


cameras and city lights

by stylesmakethefight



Series: spider-man au [1]
Category: NCT (Band), NCT Dream
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Happy Ending, Highschool AU, M/M, Markhyuck are whipped, Mentioned NCT Ensemble, Mentioned WayV Ensemble, Pining, Qian Kun - Freeform, Some angst, Spiderman AU, That's all I got, Top Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten, WayV - Freeform, chenji best friends, guess who taeyong goes weak in the knees for, it's like comic book level gore, norenmin are fine with each other, not really gory, okay now that’s all i got, ten is a supervillain robot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:08:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 26,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26534134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stylesmakethefight/pseuds/stylesmakethefight
Summary: Slowly, so slowly, as if he had known the entire time since the camera panned out from Mark’s friends to him, Donghyuck’s eyes dragged over and looked into Mark’s own straight through the camera.Mark looked away and never pointed the camera back in his direction for the rest of the night.or: markhyuck spiderman AU but spidey-mark was predictable so spidey-hyuck takes the stage
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Series: spider-man au [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1969015
Comments: 40
Kudos: 182





	1. prologue

It was safe to say that covering the first football game of the season had gradually lost its enticing promises by Mark’s fourth year of attending the game. Back in freshman year, he had taken a type of pride to it, being assigned to take photos of the winning team and seeing his pictures plastered over the school’s newspaper.

But now, as he yawned leaning against the bleachers where the other high schoolers were incoherently screaming, Mark directed his gaze anywhere else than the same 22-12 score flashing on the huge billboard. They’d win, he was sure of it. The best high school football team on this side of the coast. Too bad they were all asses.

His eyes glanced back over to the game, to the scrawniest player he had ever seen. Well, most all of them were asses. Lee Jeno was only in it for the college tuition, he had made that much clear. It wasn’t his fault that the other team members liked hanging out with him despite Jeno declining their many efforts to get him into the Club; a high-school football player’s dream. And whether the team liked to admit it or not, Jeno was the only reason their school had the best team on this side of the coast.

Mark lifted his camera, watching Jeno get low behind the line of scrimmage. Above him, a voice rang out, painfully high pitched and clear over everyone else, followed by three other distinct shouts.

“Let’s go, Lee Jeno!” erupted from the stands above him and Mark didn’t need to turn around to know that it was Chenle, Jisung, Jaemin, and Renjun cheering for their friend on the field. Mark moved the camera to the stands, looking for the right time and the right angle for a perfect shot.

His eyes moved from each one of his friends, looking absolutely ridiculous with their over-sized hoodies and bowls of cup ramen, until something still caught his attention in the midst of movement. He squinted, still looking through the lens, adjusting the zoom feature until the image was clear.

Another boy sat alone, at the very top of the bleachers, a good distance from everyone else. Mark knew his name and that was pretty much it. Donghyuck was in his class and he was quiet. Word was that he was in the top five of the class, but he liked to keep to himself a lot. Especially after news broke out of how he lost both of his parents in one night, and how he was staying with his older brother who worked for a fashion magazine. He and Jaemin used to be chem partners once and that was how Mark knew of the boy in the first place.

Slowly, _so slowly_ , as if he had known the entire time since the camera panned out from Mark’s friends to him, Donghyuck’s eyes dragged over and looked into Mark’s own straight through the camera.

Mark looked away and never pointed the camera back in his direction for the rest of the night.


	2. Chapter One

“If I don’t come out looking like a model, I am never speaking to you again, understand?” Renjun made a dramatic pose, looking away from Mark who was crouched on the gravel trying to get the sky and the tiny boy’s head into the same frame.

He grunted. “I don’t photoshop. I just click.” He was met with Renjun’s shoe that came flying from his position on the ledge of the fountain.

Mark had agreed to take some pictures of his friends. A photoshoot of sorts. He didn’t mind messing with his camera and the others just liked to dress up and pose dramatically.

“You’re not all that yourself,” Renjun mumbled, shoving his foot back into his shoe.

Chenle hopped up to the ledge, arms out for balance and walked across towards where Renjun was sitting. Mark eased back into his position readjusting the lens to catch the reflections of the park on the skyscrapers looming behind them. When Chenle finally stopped moving, Mark started clicking.

“Don’t push him in,” Jeno called, _knowing_ that it would prompt Chenle to threaten Renjun into the fountain water. If Chenle hadn’t leapt off the ledge and taken shelter behind Jisung, he would have gotten a taste of Renjun’s shoe too. And Mark had captured every moment of it, holding back his own stream of laughter.

He sat back on the gravel, taking a moment to look through the day’s photos. They started with Jisung, Jaemin instructing him how to pose and smile every second Mark’s camera was on him. Even Mark had to agree that Jisung was a total baby. All his photos were giggly and bright. Same with Chenle’s. Wide smiles and the occasional smolder that he had promised he was working on.

Jaemin crouched down over him, digging his chin into Mark’s shoulder as he lifted the camera up towards him. In front of them, Jeno was busy recording Chenle and Jisung chasing a _very_ annoyed Renjun with wet hands from the fountain.

“Not bad, Lee” Jaemin crooned when his pictures appeared.

Mark scoffed. “Obviously. I have a gift from god.” A picture with Jaemin and Jeno showed the two of them staring at each other after Jeno had dropped the last bit of his sandwich on the ground.

Mark felt Jaemin frown before he spoke. “This is cute, but how’d you manage to capture a bug from this distance?” He pointed to a blurry figure in the sky above them all. The body was contorted into a twisted shape, but it was definitely in the sky, matching the height of the skyscrapers in the back.

Mark squinted. There was no way his camera was suited for that kind of distance. He knew it. It took a few buttons for him to zoom in on the figure, but it still was too blurry to clearly make it out. Mark was sure that he shouldn’t have been able to capture something like that from so far away.

“That’s not a bug,” He said, flipping through the rest of the pictures. The figure stayed the same shape and contortion it was in until it disappeared behind a building by the time Renjun’s pictures began to roll in. “I don’t _think_ that’s a bug,” He clarified.

Jaemin leaned back. “A gift from god huh.”

Mark shoved his shoulder into Jaemin’s knees. “I won’t know for sure what that is until I get them developed.”

“You better do that soon,” Renjun had stormed up to the both of them, brows furious. “I have endured so much today, and I expect _good_ results.”

Mark scooped up his bag off the ground and gently placed the camera and the film in their respective pockets. He’d have time right now to stop by the school and use the developing room to get a closer look at the pictures. “Gift from god, remember?” He threw a causal wink over to Renjun. “Your lack of faith hurts sometimes.”

“Ever since Jisung’s homecoming picture, the faith is starting to dwindle,” Chenle chimed in as they began the trek back into the city. “Something about having his nose scrunched up didn’t sit well with us.”

Mark rolled his eyes. “Everyone else thought it was cute. You’re just used to seeing his ugly face all the time.”

“I didn’t even say anything!” Jisung pouted, a habit he formed when he is obviously wronged or if he doesn’t get what he wants, which usually comes in the form of muffins and his caramel macchiato with extra caramel.

Chenle shrugged. “You’ve got a point.” It was enough for Jisung to shove Chenle and then the two of them were at it again, bickering and throwing harmless punches at each other.

They split at the city, Chenle and Jisung heading home for the day with Jaemin and Renjun making sure they got to their neighborhoods all right. Mark and Jeno took the subway back towards the school.

Mark wouldn’t have cared so much for developing the photos but the strange black figure crossing his pictures had made him wonder if something was wrong with his camera or his film. And he wanted to make sure it was just the film. Jeno needed to head back for football practice anyway so when they arrived at the front of the school, Mark made a beeline to the developing room and Jeno had wandered towards the field.

The developing room was empty, thankfully, and Mark got straight down to work. It took a few clicks to get his camera open, the film spilling out into his hands. It was procedure, something Mark had done a million times in the past. The room was dark, and while that served to be a problem at the beginning, he knew his way around the camera blind by now. Quick and nimble fingers unloaded the film entirely, feeding it around the reel. The solution was already prepped from the last time he had used it from the game, so it didn’t take very long for him to stick the film in the liquid and wait around for ten minutes.

He had a habit of reading the news while he waited. In a dark room alone, reading the news almost felt like this world wasn’t his. Like he could watch everything from outside a massive fishbowl and none of it would be able to reach him.

News in New York usually consisted of some sort of crime or a situation where someone’s life was in danger. It came with living in such a populated place. It never really bothered Mark who had grown up in the area. He was used to it.

What he wasn’t used to was that evening’s headlines.

_Masked hero stops local ATM bank robbery. Sources say that this isn’t the first time Spider-man has swooped in to save the day. Identity is still unknown._

Below the headline was a sketch of a… _figure in the air._

Mark blinked twice before rushing back to the solution and using a pair of tongs to pull out the developed photo. He couldn’t have caught _the_ Spider-man on his camera. There was no way. Never in a million years did he ever expect to capture the neighborhood hero on photo.

Yet, as he held up the picture to the red light above him, it was unmistakable. The same red and blue spider suit, all the way down to the same crouched pose the masked hero was in as he went soaring through the air.

Mark let loose a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, eyes still going back and forth between the sketch and his own picture. He fumbled for his phone, gripping the photo in his fingers and sent out a text in the group chat.

_I have something to show you. Meet up tomorrow._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> now what exactly did mark find on his camera


	3. Chapter Two

“I can’t believe you dragged us out here to tell us you caught a really big bug on your camera,” Jaemin hissed pulling his coat closer to his body.

“For the last time, it’s not a bug,” Mark groaned as Jisung snatched the photo from his hands. “That’s Spider-man. That’s the first picture ever taken of him.”

Jisung shrugged. “I don’t know. It looks like a really big bug.”

Mark took the photo back. “Do you understand what this means? We can finally have something to identify him with.”

“You have a guy in a suit and a mask,” Jeno said with a pointed look towards the photograph. “There’s not much identification going on.”

Mark stared down at the picture. But it _was_ Spider-man. It matched the sketch almost perfectly. He had spent all night convincing himself that it really was him, and some gut feeling told him that he was right.

Renjun blew out a breath, white air coming from where he blew out. “Take it to the papers,” He said, startling Mark. He didn’t think anyone would actually believe him, Renjun least of all. “It’ll give you closure.”

Chenle nodded. “Yeah, then you can come back and we can all say we told you so and then you can buy us lunch.”

Mark forced a smile. “I hope you get decked in the face today,” He snipped back. Despite being bullied by his younger friend, Renjun’s point still stood. The newspapers had connections that could confirm or deny his picture. All Mark had to do was submit the photo.

_All he had to do was submit the photo._ It was all he could think of without losing his mind being stuck in traffic. He was on a _bike._ The rules of traffic shouldn’t apply to him, yet here he was, sitting in the cold of Midtown Manhattan’s worst afternoon rush. In hindsight, he should have asked one of the others to accompany him but given that they all are anticipating him to buy them lunch later, Mark figured he’d face it alone.

So, with a deep breath, he shifted on his bike and leaned around, hoping to see the cause of the traffic. All the way up to the bridge were a series of cars all parked only centimeters from each other and a lot of frustrated drivers and passengers. Much to Mark’s disappointment, they didn’t seem to be moving in a long time.

And then something sounded like a crash behind him.

Mark wasn’t sure if he had heard it, but since he was the only idiot on a bike in the middle of February, he could make out metal on metal coming from somewhere in the long line of cars and getting closer.

He twisted around, peering over the hoods of the vehicles lined behind him. Far off in the distance, a large truck, one of those delivery trucks, was hurtling into the cars in front of it. Those vehicles swerved into the guard rails and into other cars, but the truck didn’t stop. It was far bigger than any other vehicle on the road, and with a sharp pang of panic, Mark realized that _he_ was an idiot on a bike in the middle of February.

His head whipped around, back to the front. The cars on the bridge. If the truck made it across the road, and it looked like it would, it would push the cars off the bridge and into the water below.

Mark opened his mouth to shout, to yell, to point, to do _anything,_ when a shadow flew over his head.

He watched with his mouth open as Spider-man himself swung over the traffic, speeding towards the truck. Turned out, he wasn’t the only one either.

By the time Mark pulled himself together to tug his camera out from his backpack, people were getting out of cars to watch Spider-man land on top of a van to survey the scene. He lifted his camera for a shot, zooming in as close as he could. Through the lens he watched the masked hero stand up, rolling his shoulders back through the skintight blue and red suit. Mark’s finger hovered over the button.

The flash went off. The screams began.

The truck had to be moving impossibly faster now, knocking the cars to the side as if they were nothing. Still trapped in traffic, most people began running on foot, desperate to put as much distance between them and the truck as possible.

Mark got off his bike, shouldering past the people running against him. He should be running with them, but this was his shot to capture a clear picture of Spider-man. He wasn’t about to lose to Chenle. Not when he had a chance.

Mark crouched down by an empty car, its occupants having already fled. From here, he propped up his camera and peered through the lens, searching for any flash of red or blue. He caught glimpses, through the tangle of arms and legs of other passerby’s running past. But every time it felt like he could get the shot, someone would get in the way. He was starting to feel the frustration build.

He clenched his jaw, steely resolve of not having to buy lunch taking over and made the decision to run forward. Just a bit where it was emptier. Running forward, however, also meant getting closer to the rampaging truck. Mark knew the truck slowed down because of Spider-man. And all he needed was one clear shot and—

“Help! Somebody please help!”

A shriek turned his attention away from the masked hero still slinging around the truck. A few meters away, an older woman was pounding at the window of a car that was pushed up against the guard rails. If Mark squinted, he could make out a toddler inside, hitting back just as hard. The door must be jammed, or impossible to unlock with the driver’s side of the car wrecked.

Mark looked from the child to Spider-man, sticking to the roof of the truck and throwing his feet into the open (or broken, Mark wasn’t sure of a lot of things happening at that moment) window to hit the assailant. The truck swerved, directing towards the lady and the toddler in the car. But his picture…

Mark chewed on his lip before darting to the lady. His heart was pounding so hard, he was impressed that he could still hear the world around him.

“Get out of the way!” He yelled as he approached. He gave the door handle a hard yank, but nothing happened. Behind him, the sounds of metal and tires screeching were getting scarily close. He gritted his teeth and pulled again, propping his leg up against the car for leverage. Still, nothing.

The woman was sobbing, the child inside was crying, and Mark was sure he was about to pull a muscle. And yet, the truck never once stopped.

He looked back at the car door and motioned for the child to step away from the glass. “I’m going to break it,” He shouted, hoping the kid would understand. “Move back!”

 _Thankfully_ , the kid scooted all the way over to the other side and even covered his head. Mark rubbed his elbow once before sending it through the glass, feeling the sting of shards digging through his jacket and the pain from throwing his arm against it.

“Careful,” He muttered, reaching for the child inside. He was painfully aware of the truck coming ever closer still. His arm remained extended.

_Come on, come on, come on, just grab it._

He pulled the child out, covering his head with his own hands as the kid passed through the window. He was in the lady’s arms a second later.

“Go!” Mark yelled, pointing down towards the bridge. “Tell others to get out and run.”

The lady didn’t move just yet. She watched Mark, tears still stained on her cheeks, clutching the child so very close to her. And Mark stared back. The woman would have a story to tell. It was written on her face. Any picture would never be able to capture her emotions ever again, and Mark supposed that was why he picked up photography in the first place. Because—

The woman’s eyes widened and she turned on her heel and bolted.

Mark was all of a sudden all too aware of how much the air changed. How much warmer it was because the truck was speeding right towards him and it was only meters away.

He wasn’t sure what hit him first-- the fear, or the realization that there was no way he could get out of this one; that he was going to die right now. He blinked once, slowly, watching it happen like he watches his subjects before clicking down on the shutter. A moment captured in time forever.

“Look out!”

Something jabbed him in his arm and then he was yanked _hard._ Mark tripped over his own feet and stumbled to the side a few meters away, just as the truck completely demolished the car he was standing in front of moments ago before the trees in the forest beyond finally stopped the vehicle from moving any further.

He sat up quickly, breathing hard and fast, clenching and unclenching his fists to make sure that he was still alive. The adrenaline was going so hard, he thought he was going to pass out. The heavy breathing didn’t help either.

And then, he watched the universe pull another string.

Spider-man leapt down in front of him on quiet feet. “Hey, man.” The voice was sort of familiar, but Mark could barely even hear his own thoughts over the roaring of his heart. “You alright?” He stretched a hand down and Mark stared at it before taking the gloved hand.

Mark felt himself being pulled up, and immediately felt insecure about just how weak he was. “I’m still alive,” He got out breathlessly, patting himself down to check. “I’m—I’m still—”

“Yeah, you’re still alive,” Spider-man said. He lifted his arm over Mark’s shoulder and Mark dumbly thought he was going for a hug. Instead, the web shot out of Spider-man’s wrist, whizzing past Mark’s ear. A second later, _his_ camera was in Spider-man’s hands.

_Oh no._

“Is this yours?” Spider-man asked, turning over Mark’s precious camera around in his hands. “It’s pretty sturdy.” He paused and glanced over at Mark. “Unlike you, buddy.”

Mark made a move to snatch it back, ignoring the snipe, but Spider-man must have seen it coming because he turned away at the last second, leaving Mark to stumble forward.

“Dude, this thing is ancient.” Spider-man’s attention was turned back onto the camera.

Mark, for some reason, couldn’t bear the sight of someone else touching his favorite camera, even if that someone else was Spider-man himself.

“Give it back,” He muttered, trying to reach for it again. Spider-man only spun around with his back towards Mark, still pressing all the buttons and even holding it up to see through the lens. “Hey!” Mark tried again and again to snatch back his damn camera, but Spider-man was just too quick. “Some hero you are for stealing my—”

The flash went off and Mark blinked, stepping back. He couldn’t see his face, but Mark felt Spider-man slowly grin as he looked down at the new picture.

And then much to Mark’s horror, Spider-man pressed next.

Mark stood there, absolutely dumbfounded as Spider-man must have scrolled through the pictures of himself, from the accident just now to zoomed in screen shots of him flying over Mark’s friend’s heads. Mark’s ears were turning red, probably his cheeks too, and he could _feel_ it. He felt stupid. He probably looked like a stalker with all those photos.

Just as he felt the smile, Mark sensed the frown. But instead of lashing out, all Spider-man said was: “so it was you.”

Spider-man’s head snapped up, hearing something Mark couldn’t yet. Mark took the opportunity to snatch the camera back just as sirens, clear across the bridge, made their way over. “You don’t just _steal_ other people’s stuff,” Mark was mumbling, trying to turn off the camera, and force the redness to disappear from his face. “Your mom ever—”

“Don’t take that to the press.” Spider-man shot into the forest and swung away, disappearing into the tree line. Mark, knees still shaking, watched him go, clutching the camera in his hands and wondering how Spider-man knew that it was him taking the pictures all along.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> they meet!! it was pretty chaotic but that's on par with markhyuck


	4. Chapter Three

Mark went to the press anyway.

He told himself that it was for him and only for his own interest. Sure, it was _the_ Spider-man who had one little request to not go to the press, minutes after he had saved Mark’s life no less. But Mark only had ten dollars and there was absolutely _no_ way he was taking Chenle out to eat ever again. The boy flew through dozens of plates before he could even start to feel something. Mark’s wallet took the hit each time Chenle reached for another plate.

Mark just wanted closure. He felt it moments after the events on the bridge. For some reason, Spider-man had decided to help him of all people. And they had a whole _conversation._ That was unheard of in all of Mark’s interactions with literally anyone. But Mark just couldn’t shake the thought that Spider-man _knew_ that Mark’s camera was on him that day. Did he sense Mark that day? Is that what led him to saving Mark’s life on the bridge?

Answers. He needed answers and the only thing Mark could do was take the few pictures he had to the press.

But between the skeptical looks one of the over-worked editors gave him and simply surviving the American education system, Mark had an inkling of a feeling that his pictures wouldn’t make frontlines.

“Fuck chem.” A voice came from down the hall and it was Jaemin, storming up towards Mark at his locker. Behind him was Renjun, trying to tug on his sleeve. “I’m dropping out right now and you can’t stop me.”

“It’s _one_ grade,” Renjun said with an eye-roll. “Calm down.”

Jaemin whirled on him. “Don’t talk to me, Ninety-six.”

“Hey, you passed,” Renjun tried. “Isn’t that enough?”

Jaemin ignored him. “Mark, tell Renjun that I don’t want to see his smart ass for the rest of the day,” He said instead as Mark shut his locker.

“I’m _right_ here,” Renjun groaned.

“He _is_ right there,” Mark pointed out.

Jaemin threw his hands up in frustration. “I don’t want to _see_ him, so _you_ tell him.” He poked Mark in his chest for effect.

“Na Jaemin, ask me for help one more time—”

Jaemin gasped loudly. “Injunnie! You must help me!” He all but screeched.

“Shut the fuck up,” Renjun hissed, herding them all away from the crowded hall where some kids did turn to look in their direction. Mark gave them an apologetic smile before they turned down a corner heading for lunch. “Don’t call me that,” Renjun said as they walked down the stairs.

“Why?” Jaemin pressed. He was being cheeky, and he knew it, but it always got Renjun angry, which just made everything hilarious. “Are you embarrassed?”

Renjun’s hands were balled into tiny fists beside him, and when Jaemin saw, he only cooed louder, moving to tickle Renjun. Mark hurried out of the way before he could get caught in their play-fight-thing, only to run into a solid body.

“Oh, shit, I’m so sorry,” He hurried to say, feeling the stranger’s hands immediately reach out to steady him back onto his feet.

“No worries,” The stranger said, quietly and Mark looked up then. The boy had a mop of light brown hair, nearly faded orange, and long lashes that fanned over his round cheeks as he kept his gaze focused on the way their feet restabilized themselves. When they stilled, they were both an inch or two away from each other. Mark finally saw those eyes lift up to meet his.

“Donghyuck, right?” Mark asked, and the other boy quickly stepped away, and Mark felt the warmth leave his bubble of space.

“That would be me,” Donghyuck said, clearing his throat. “Hyuck would work just fine too.” Mark understood the hesitation. There weren’t a lot of kids who were very kind to the quiet kid with the fierce eyes. Mark thought it had to do with the fact that Hyuck was always near the top, and it never felt like he was even trying. Hyuck kept to himself around school, Mark remembered, but that made anyone an easy target for the bullies who had nothing better to do.

Mark for one, always thought bullies deserved to sit in a garbage dumpster that was on fire. So if this kid was going to feel a shred of happiness today, Mark was going to take it upon himself to deliver.

He smiled widely, glad Hyuck wasn’t upset about the mini collision. He held out his hand. “I’m Mark. I think you know some of my friends?”

Hyuck took his hand and shook, smiling back a dazzling smile that Mark wished he could have captured on camera. _What? Yeah, the smile was cute, but where did that thought even come from?_

“Jaemin and I were chem partners a year ago,” Hyuck explained. He looked over Mark’s shoulder at Jaemin hugging a frowning Renjun, Jaemin’s cheek squished against Renjun’s head. “Looks like he grew the balls to finally speak to him,” Hyuck said, nodding their way.

Mark winced. “You could tell?” Were his friends _that_ obvious?

Hyuck scoffed. “Please, the whole school could tell. Jeno is whipped for the both of them. Everyone knows Jaemin has a thing for pretty smiles, and Renjun…well, Renjun is sort of awful at keeping his emotions hidden,” Hyuck said, still watching how Renjun was growing increasingly frustrated at Jaemin’s antics.

“I guess I should warn them before they get suspended for inappropriate PDA,” Mark said, thinking aloud. It was a genuine possibility; he wouldn’t put them past that. But he knew the reality. “They’ll only clown on me,” He groaned, picturing the conversation in his head.

_Hey, I think you three should talk about your feelings._

_Fuck off._

_Fuck off._

_Fuck off._

_Okay._

“They’ll never let it go. Jisung and Chenle wouldn’t even care, they’d just demand that I pay for their lunch since the press basically rejected my photos,” Mark mourned, not even caring that he was just pouring his heart out in front of Hyuck. He felt he had every right to. After all, it was his wallet that was going to bleed dry. All because his friends were stubborn as hell and had a selective memory. Jaemin was shit at chem for a reason, but he knew all of their schedules like the back of his hand.

Hyuck perked up. “The press rejected your photos? What even were they?” He asked.

Mark waved a dismissive hand. “I thought I had caught Spider-man on camera by accident, but I guess they just thought it was too blurry. Bullshit, by the way. I know my camera well enough to know that it doesn’t blur unless I tell it to.”

Hyuck stiffened at that, but Mark didn’t think much of it, his thoughts still rambling on in his head. “Hey, we’re about to get lunch anyway,” Mark said, “you want to join us?”

Hyuck blinked. “Me? You’re asking me?” He asked incredulously.

Mark leaned in slightly. “Between you and me, I just don’t want them to bring up how I was wrong about the pictures.”

“So I’m just a distraction?”

“Well, if you say it like that…” Did Mark take it too far? Was Hyuck truly offended?

“I’m messing with you, Mark Lee,” Hyuck said, punching Mark’s shoulder a little too painfully. Mark fought not to rub it even when Hyuck trained his eyes on where he hit Mark. Hyuck cleared his throat again. “Lunch. Let’s go.”

Mark smiled at him, surprised at how easy he found it to talk to him. And it took one lunch period to get the rest of the group to see that Hyuck wasn’t the freak people made him out to be. He and Renjun bonded over their favorite plushie that they both coincidentally owned: Moomin. Jaemin used Hyuck to make Renjun jealous by asking about their chem days, and Hyuck was perceptive to pick up what was going on. He was probably even _more_ of a flirt than Jaemin. Mark never would have seen it coming. He made Jeno laugh within five minutes of speaking to him, by making one terrible (in Mark’s opinion) pun about their lunch. Jeno was laughing so hard, his eyes disappeared into moon crescents which only happened when he was laughing with his whole body. Mark caught both Jaemin and Renjun staring with something akin to love in their eyes. He was sure Jaemin even sighed dreamily.

And when Chenle and Jisung came from their classes complaining about how it was Jisung’s turn to stay awake for the notes, but he had fallen asleep before he could get half a page in, Hyuck immediately volunteered to help catch them up on the units.

Mark was about to warn him that making deals with Chenle and Jisung almost always ended with empty wallets and empty gas tanks, but Hyuck figured that out too. He offered help in exchange for assistance in some afterschool lab project he was working on. Chenle and Jisung were more than excited to shake on it.

Mark found himself walking beside Hyuck by the end of the day, both of them heading in the same direction towards their houses.

“Jeno was all like, ‘I’m not a freaking aardvark, I can’t hear you from a mile away’. Jisung had to physically stop Chenle from shouting in the shop,” Mark was saying, recounting how one night after one of Jeno’s football games, they had gone to get ice cream in celebration. Mark recalled how even through Jisung’s hand clamped over Chenle’s mouth, Chenle was still embarrassingly loud.

They had made out of the city, into the start of the neighborhoods and tall apartment buildings overgrown with vines and weeds hugging the old brick. Mark kicked a rock that was dislodged from the cracked concrete up ahead of him.

Hyuck laughed with him, and Mark felt something warm bloom in his chest at the sound of his laugh. “I found that I have a math class with him,” Hyuck said, tugging on his backpack strap. “He’s wicked good at it. I watched him knock out like a light for the whole period and he still managed to get the question of the day right.” Hyuck took his turn on kicking the rock, sending it a little further than Mark’s kick.

“His dream is to hack into the Pentagon one day.”

“Shut up.”

“No, I’m serious.” Mark’s grin matched Hyuck’s. “He thinks it’s the first step before he can get to hacking Area 51.” Mark found the rock, and he too kicked it, marveling at how smoothly they had picked up on their little game.

“Aren’t you older than him? Shouldn’t you be telling him to focus on schoolwork?” Hyuck pointed out, which was a very good point, but Mark’s been through that train of thought before. Several times.

“Have you _met_ Chenle?” He deadpanned. “I’ve already received several messages about buying him and Jisung lunch within the week, or they’d start demanding dinner too.”

Hycuk kicked on his turn. “I’m so sorry for your wallet, dude,” He said with true sincerity in his voice.

Mark shrugged. “It could be worse. My camera costed a whole lot.”

“That ancient thing?”

Mark paused. Had he shown Hyuck his camera? He remembered mentioning it, but he couldn’t remember a time where he pulled it out to show him. “You’ve seen it?” He asked, kicking the pebble.

This time, Hyuck paused, stumbling over his words. “I, um, saw it in your bag during lunch,” He said, rubbing at his wrist. “Looked like an older model. Like, _way_ older.”

“She’s my baby.” Mark frowned. No one was allowed to make fun of his baby.

“It’s what’s on the inside what counts,” Hyuck said easily, kicking the rock off course this time. He tumbled off the edge of the sidewalk and disappeared beneath a car parked to the side, ending their little game. Mark was still glad they were able to do that so easily.

“What do you think should be on the inside?” Mark asked, turning their attention away from where the pebble had disappeared to.

Hyuck hummed in thought. “There’s this really cute guy named Donghyuck Lee. I think he would make your camera roll much brighter.”

Hyuck’s smile was indeed very bright, and very cheeky. Mark couldn’t help himself. He grinned right back. “Pick a time and a place, and we can make it happen,” He said.

The smile grew wider, if that was even possible, and Mark was seeing little stars in the pits of Hyuck’s big eyes even as they got smaller while he grinned. It was just so perfect. Mark did want to capture that himself. He wanted to be able to capture all those stars in the other boy’s eyes and keep them with him forever, as his most favorite piece of work.

Hyuck opened his mouth to say something but was cut off when a police car with its siren whizzed past, blaring the high-pitched noise as it streaked down the road towards the city. Mark and Hyuck paused to see it disappear between the traffic of other cars and pedestrians. Behind them, several more cars with their sirens disrupted their peaceful walk and shot down the street, firetrucks and ambulances following close behind.

Something must be going on in the city. And if something is going on, then Spider-man must be there too! This could be Mark’s second chance. If he could only get a clearer picture, he could make headlines. He’d have to get to the city before he lost him, or else this would have been a waste. Mark quickly turned back around, getting ready to explain to Hyuck that he was going to go see what was going on. Maybe they’d both be able to together. Mark wouldn’t mind the company either.

Instead, he found the other boy staring hard at where the sirens had faded off too. It was a whole different mask to what Mark was used to seeing. Hyuck’s face was devoid of the brightness and the flirty grin from earlier. His face was hard, cold, calculating. Mark found it strange, but he really needed to get a move on if he was going to be able to make it back to the city in time.

He opened his mouth, but Hyuck beat him to it. “Actually, this is where I’ll go,” He said rather quickly. He gestured vaguely behind him to the alleyways. “I don’t want to get you further away from your place,” He explained a bit sheepishly.

“No!” Mark said, startled at how quickly he had gotten his voice out. “I mean, I was actually going to go back into the city to see what that was all about.” He pointed his thumb towards the opposite direction. “Maybe I’ll get a better shot at Spider-man. Then, I won’t have to take Chenle and Jisung out to lunch. I was wondering if you’d like to come? We can walk there and back together,” Mark offered, part of him really wishing he could spend more time with Hyuck.

But, Hyuck shook his head. “I’m sorry, Mark. I told my brother that I’d be back soon.” Hyuck was already walking backwards towards the alley. “I’ll see you tomorrow at school?”

Mark’s shoulders slumped slightly with disappointment. Of course, he couldn’t _make_ Hyuck come with him. But he knew that the boy’s presence would be missed. He lifted a hand. “First period,” Mark said. “By the library.”

Hyuck nodded, the ease coming back onto his face. “I’ll be there.”

And then both boys took off running in opposite directions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the dreamies are always a serotonin BOOST


	5. Chapter Four

Mark found himself in a situation similar to where he was last time. He wondered if this would become a regular thing for him, landing himself in the middle of the most chaotic situations with his camera already out and gripped in his hands.

People ran past him, brushing against his shoulders as Mark pushed through the retreating crowd. He was in the park now, the once serene, soft, rolling grassy hills being trampled on as both casual strollers and business workers on break stampeded away. Up ahead, smoke was rising from what Mark guessed as debris. He couldn’t smell it, but dust was starting to fill the air. Mark clambered up onto the nearest park bench and stood above the waves of people, looking out over the crowd.

There, some distance away, a man in a ridiculous costume stood, waving his hands as dust swirled and the wind blew around him. Mark squinted to avoid getting the dust in his eyes. The man seemed to be controlling the wind. Wherever his hands moved, gusts of wind would follow, eventually launching branches and logs into the air. Behind him stood a line of police cars and officers, keeping people away from the center of it all. Mark glanced around. There was still no sign of Spider-man.

He’d come, Mark was sure of it. In the meantime, Mark lifted his camera, wincing as the dust pummeled his lens. He’d have to do a thorough cleaning of it later. He clicked twice, seeing the man launch what looked like a tree trunk into a statue, crumbling it from its base.

“Above you!” Someone shouted. Mark set his camera back down and turned. At first, he didn’t see anything, but more and more voices began to shout.

“Is that Spider-man?”

“He’s here!”

“Give him some space!”

A shadow crossed over his head and Mark followed the suit of red and blue as Spider-man swung over his head, landing softly in front of the man who had stopped to give all his attention to the neighborhood hero.

“ _You._ ” The man’s eyes turned into slits as he stared Spider-man down.

“Is this what Beyonce feels like?” Spider-man asked, and Mark knew he had heard him speak before, but now, it just sounded way more familiar. Closer, somehow. Like the voice had been in his head for hours, and hearing Spider-man’s own voice matched the one in his head. “Actually, Beyonce probably doesn’t hear a ‘ _you_ ’ from her fans, that would be disrespectful to the queen.”

“He warned me about you.”

Spider-man’s shoulders dropped, just an inch. No one else would have noticed but Mark was watching the scene in front of him very closely. He couldn’t look away.

“He knows about me?” The taunt was back in his voice. “Never mind then, this _must_ be what Beyonce feels. Do you want my autograph?”

“In the form of your innards splayed for all to see.”

“Graphic.” Spider-man jumped out of the way as the man shot his hands out towards him, sending shrapnel and whatever else to the spot where Spider-man was standing just seconds ago. Mark watched as the hero swooped and leapt, using the trees surrounding them to stick his webs to the branches.

Mark lifted his camera, following Spider-man as he crossed the entirety of the park with his swings, dodging all the debris sent flying his way. He quickly snapped the pictures, not worrying if they were blurry or not. He was sure at least one of them would come out clear enough to make out the figure.

From his position on top of the bench, Mark had a clear view of Spider-man circling the man in the center, using his webs to grab fallen branches and swing them towards the man. He was deflecting each attack, and Spider-man was getting closer and closer to the man, launching whatever debris he could find in an attempt to slow down the villain.

A large branch flew through the air and it hit the man square in his chest, sending him flying across the patch of green. Spider-man landed softly some distance away, walking slowly up to the man that was laying on the ground. Mark thought he was saying something, but he couldn’t hear. He hurried off the bench and skirted around the space, trying to get closer. He carefully stepped over the broken pieces of the statues, the branches, and whatever else was tossed around during the fight.

“Did he give you some sort of drug?” Spider-man was saying. “What was in it? How many others like you does he have?”

Mark crouched behind a tree, staying hidden. They both mentioned a _he._ Who was that? Was he a danger to the city?

The man wheezed out a laugh. “I’m not even the best one he has,” The man gasped. “His latest project?” He laughed again. “Horrific. You’ll never stand a chance.”

Mark frowned, seeing movement from the man’s hand. Only he could see it from his vantage point. The man’s fingers curled and waved, gathering dust and wind. Just beyond his prone body, a piece of a white statue that once stood in a fountain in the park, shifted. Mark’s heart dropped.

“I’ll take my chances,” Spider-man said, not seeing what was happening. Mark frantically looked between the slowly moving piece of concrete and Spider-man, hoping with everything he had that the hero would notice was the man was trying to do. “What is he doing?” He demanded.

A cruel smile spread on the man’s face. “Looking for you.”

Mark moved the same time the man lifted his hand. Mark shot out from behind the tree, his camera left in the grass behind him. He didn’t really know what he was going to do, but he _had_ to warn Spider-man. “Look out!” He shouted, tackling Spider-man to the ground. They both fell over with a grunt, and Mark heard the statue block crash somewhere behind them, breaking into a million other pieces.

Mark barely had time to get himself off Spider-man before Spider-man himself kept one hand around Mark’s waist, the other extended out over his shoulder. Mark heard several swooshes come out of Spider-man’s wrist, and then the muffled grunts of the man behind him.

“Fucking finally,” Spider-man groaned, dropping his arm.

“Um,” Mark began, all of a sudden way too aware of the hand still firmly planted on his waist. “Are you okay?” He asked awkwardly.

The big whites of the eyes on the mask seemed to stare into Mark’s own, widening just as Mark’s did. They were still in each other’s arms. “You’re asking me if _I’m_ okay?” Spider-man asked almost incredulously.

Mark stared back. “He threw half a statue at you!”

“But you saved me.”

Mark was at a loss for words. “I…I guess I did,” He stammered.

Spider-man’s head whipped to the side, hearing something that Mark wasn’t. “The police are coming. We have to go.” Spider-man got up, helping Mark back to his feet as well.

“ _We_?” Mark asked.

“Do you want to stay back for questioning?”

He had a point. Mark only wanted pictures, not to be involved with a criminal with strange powers. “Okay, then,” Mark conceded. “I’ll just go—”

“No time.” Mark didn’t have time to protest as Spider-man scooped him up bridal style. “Hold on tight,” He warned.

“No, no, no, _wait!_ ” Mark shrieked. But it was too late. Spider-man shot out his webs, latching them onto some high place, and then they were off, swinging through the park.

Mark’s stomach lurched with each swoop. At one point it would be low in his pelvis, and then it would shoot up into his throat. He was screaming, a blur of buildings, yellow cabs, and people flashing past. In between his panicking, he could have sworn that he heard Spider-man laugh. A part of him was indignant that the hero was laughing at him, but the other part of him was focusing on keeping his lunch in.

“Oh shit, I think I’m going to be sick,” He yelled over the wind.

“Gross, dude,” Spider-man said without any strain in his voice from carrying the both of them across the city. “I’ll drop you if you do.”

Mark swallowed bile and squeezed his eyes shut. “I’m not looking, I’m not looking, I’m not looking,” He chanted, mostly to himself, but Spider-man only barked out a laugh again. Wind tore at his hair and at his clothes, and Mark only gripped onto the hero harder, burying his face into his chest in an effort to ignore the way they were free-falling one minute, and then shooting back up to the sky in the next.

“Mark?” Spider-man said quietly. Mark loosed a breath, no longer feeling the wind blasting in his face. He pried his eyes open, seeing the flat ground below him. No more swinging. They were back on the ground. And he was still holding onto Spider-man.

“Oh, uh, sorry,” He whispered, his voice hoarse. Slowly, he detached himself, lowering his feet back onto the ground. His knees felt like jelly, and he stumbled a bit, but Spider-man placed a firm steady hand on his back until Mark could right himself.

“Are you good?” He asked.

“Yeah, yeah,” Mark said a little breathlessly, looking anywhere but the hero in front of him. “That was…incredible.”

Spider-man snorted. “You were crying like a baby.”

“Was not!”

“You want to go again?”

“No!” Mark took a step back, definitely not ready to swing like that again. It was like a rollercoaster but completely unpredictable.

Spider-man giggled ( _giggled?_ Did heroes do that?) and Mark shot him a glare. “Sorry, I thought it was cute.”

Mark was feeling blush rise to his ears and he fought to keep it down. He was suddenly reminded of Hyuck, about their conversation before they had split. After today’s crazy events, maybe Mark would reach out and plan that photo session soon. He’d get to tell Hyuck all about what he had seen, and something told him that the other boy would be excited to hear the story.

Wait. Photo session. Mark’s eyes widened in realization, frantically patting down his own body. His heart sank. “My camera! I left it at the park!” He exclaimed. All his photos, everything he didn’t get time to develop, gone. How was he supposed to get back to a crime scene and find his baby?

Spider-man tilted his head. “It’s still at the park?”

“I left it behind the tree,” Mark mourned. It was his _child._ How could he have been so irresponsible to leave it behind? Maybe Mark should just drop photography. Drop out of the newspaper club. Nothing was worth it anymore.

“Don’t worry about it,” Spider-man said. Mark was about to refute, tears in his eyes and everything because what did he mean ‘don’t worry about it’? Did you say ‘don’t worry about it’ to a parent who lost a child? But Spider-man extended his arm and shot out a web. “See you around, Mark!” He called, and then he was gone, disappearing behind a tall building, leaving Mark alone to mourn for his camera.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mark has a fear of heights irl so this probably wouldn't have ended well for him yikes also HELLO he's so oblivious smh


	6. Chapter Five

Mark was still contemplating if he should quit his dream of photography and step down from the newspaper club well into the next morning. The club was supposed to go on a trip to the largest biomedical company in the city, Wayv Genetics, in a few days, and Mark was supposed to get a picture of the CEO for their interview. He couldn’t imagine him walking up to the multi-millionaire Ten Lee and whipping out his phone to take his picture. Mark would feel embarrassed for life. This could potentially be his biggest break, and all he had to show for it was his dinky little phone with a terrible zoom feature.

He shut his locker, sadly eyeing the space where his camera would once be.

“Hey, Mark!”

Mark jumped, startled at the sound, his textbook falling out of his grasp. Before he could even register that his book was crashing to the ground, a pair of hands shot out and caught it. Mark looked up. Hyuck stood next to his locker, a sly grin on his face and… and…

“Woah, what happened to you hand?” Mark asked, pointing at where Hyuck had wrapped a bandage around the palm of his hand. “Are you okay?”

Hyuck looked down too. “I’m, um, I’m fine. Really. I knocked it into the side of a fence yesterday and the edge caught me,” He explained, passing Mark his book back and pulling his sleeve down to cover his hand as much as he could. “What about you? You look so upset,” He quickly changed the topic.

Mark wasn’t so ready to move away from Hyuck’s injury. If it was deep, he should have gone to the hospital before it got worse. Maybe he’d bring it up later. He could trust Hyuck to take care of himself.

“Oh,” Mark began, leading the way to their first class. “I lost my camera yesterday at the park,” He said. “There was a fight there and I couldn’t get back onto a crime scene to get it back.”

“You were there?” Hyuck asked. “Are _you_ okay? I heard the damage was pretty intense.” There was something hopeful in his voice, but Mark couldn’t figure out where it was coming from.

“Yeah, I’m good. Spider-man saved me actually,” Mark said. “That’s a story I was going to tell you when we had our photoshoot, but that might be pushed back.”

Hyuck hummed in thought. “That’s pretty funny.”

Mark stopped in his tracks. What was it with everyone laughing at his camera’s misfortune?

Hyuck noticed. “Not that,” He quickly amended, swinging his backpack in front of him. “I was walking through the park last night actually, when everything was clear.” He unzipped his bag and rummaged through. Mark saw a bunch of papers of chem notes that didn’t look familiar. Maybe they were about Hyuck’s own project he was working on after school. “And I found this old thing just sitting there on the ground.”

Mark’s eyes widened as Hyuck pulled out a camera. _His_ camera. His baby. He stared as Hyuck turned it around between his thin fingers. “I thought it was a piece of junk at first, but then I realized that maybe there was some worth to it, so I picked it up.” He looked up, meeting Mark’s stare and bit on his lip. “Recognize it?” He held it out.

Mark only stared. How did Hyuck manage to get his camera back? Mark was in the middle of the crime zone, with only Spider-man and that man with powers. No one else was around him then. If anyone picked it up, it should have been the police, right? Surely, they didn’t overlook a whole camera sitting in the middle of the investigation.

“Yeah, it’s…how did you get this?” Mark asked, gently taking his camera back. It felt so good to have his fingers wrapped around his precious camera.

Hyuck simply shrugged, zipping his backpack up and slinging it over his shoulder. “I just found it while taking a walk.” Mark gave him a questioning look, and Hyuck rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry about it. It’s with you now.”

_Don’t worry about it._ The words clanged around Mark’s mind like pots and pans. “Yeah, but—” The bell cut him off, warning them that they had two minutes left to get to class.

“I have to go. One more tardy and they’ll give me detention,” Hyuck groaned, turning away to head towards his class.

“Wait!” Mark reached out fast, grabbing Hyuck’s wrist and pulling him back. Hyuck turned, those bright, intelligent, eyes boring into Mark’s own and Mark felt the words leave his lips. His brain fumbled to generate a new sentence that he could voice out this time. “Um. Hold on.” His fingers tightened around Hyuck’s wrist, but neither one of them broke eye contact. “I want to make this up to you,” He began, lifting his camera. “For finding my camera.”

“You really don’t—”

“No, I do,” Mark insisted. “Thank you, for bringing it back to me. Would you like to get dinner tomorrow night? I’ll pay.”

“Mark, seriously, you don’t have to do this,” Hyuck said in his soft voice and _man_ Mark felt like he could listen to it all day. What was going on with him?

“I want to do this for you,” Mark said. “Please. You returning my camera means a lot to me, and I’d just feel better if I got to treat you to a proper meal.”

Hyuck watched him for a moment. “There’s nothing I can say to make you drop this?”

“Absolutely not.”

The other boy blew out a sigh. “Okay. Yes, I’d love to get dinner with you.”

Mark broke out a grin. “Great! I know just the place.” His smile grew bigger when he saw Hyuck eyes light up. “See you at lunch?” Mark finally let his wrist go, awkwardly letting it fall beside him.

Hyuck lifted a hand to wave. “See you at lunch,” He confirmed.

“Mark Lee, you fucking traitor.”

Mark barely scooped up his rice onto his fork before Chenle thundered over and plopped himself down at their lunch table. Jisung sat down next to him equally fuming. “You’re buying your new boyfriend dinner before you buy your favorite sophomores their deserved lunch?”

Mark turned to glare at Jaemin who was all of a sudden too absorbed in his fries to even spare a glance towards him. Mark had told Jaemin about his dinner plans with Hyuck earlier, but he should have known that Jaemin couldn’t keep a secret to save his own life.

“Boyfriend?” Hyuck coughed from the other side of him.

Jaemin waved his fork. “I didn’t say that part,” He defended. “Just…everything else.”

“You called it a _date_ ,” Jisung accused and Jaemin gasped dramatically.

“Sounds like a date to me,” Jeno agreed.

Mark turned to the star football player. “Shut it, Jeno. You called the field trip to the arboretum a date.”

Jeno threw his hands in the air. “The three of us were alone and it was an outing! What do you call that?”

Renjun snorted. “A disaster, if you ask me.”

“You enjoyed it, Injunnie,” Jeno crooned loudly much to Renjun’s disappointment. Renjun threatened to throw his apple at Jeno’s head, and Jeno ducked, mumbling a string of apologies.

“ _Anyways,_ ” Chenle hissed before Renjun really did chuck his apple. “I’m only letting this slide because Hyuckie is _so_ cool, and his project that we’re working on is sick.”

Mark choked on his drink. “Hyuckie?”

Everyone, as per usual, ignored him. “Chenle, that’s supposed to be a secret,” Hyuck ( _Hyuckie??)_ said back conspiratorially, but Mark heard an edge in his voice. Something deeper in his words. He didn’t get a chance to ponder about it because Hyuck continued. “And it’s not a date. Mark insisted when I told him it was fine.”

“ _Mark insisted_?” Jaemin spluttered.

Mark was suddenly self-conscious. “What’s wrong if I asked someone out?”

“Mark, you have the romantic capabilities of a fish,” Renjun deadpanned.

“As if you’re any better!”

“I’ve got two cuties on either side of me. You want to try again?”

Mark didn’t miss Jaemin and Jeno’s twin blushes. Regardless, Mark took offense. He took his time to glare at each one of his so-called-friends, finally reaching Hyuck’s shit eating grin. Mark had a sense that this was going to end badly for him.

“And I’ll have one cutie beside me tomorrow night,” He winked.

The others burst into _ooh’s_ and Mark’s ears turned terribly red. “Oh, it’s totally a date,” Jisung concluded and Mark buried his head down into his arms, if only to hide his smile, because Hyuck called him _cute._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i just KNOW mark would be this oblivious if this happened to him irl i just know it


	7. Chapter Six

Okay, so maybe Mark was whipped for the boy with the tan skin and the pretty freckles on his neck that he could trace into constellations. No, he wouldn’t admit it yet, and no, he definitely was _not_ dressing up to impress said boy. Not entirely at least. Maybe he just wanted to show Hyuck that he wasn’t as bad at relationships as the others may make him out to be.

They had exchanged numbers on their walk home, and Mark texted out a time and a place for their dinner. One of his favorite restaurants that had _the_ best ramen in the whole city, and Mark would die by that statement. So, he nailed the place down, and he was confident.

But as Mark pulled out his phone to check the time, he wasn’t so sure he had planned the timing right. 7 pm, he had said, and Hyuck had enthusiastically nodded and agreed. It was now nearing 7:30 pm and Mark was still sitting alone at his table for two.

It _wasn’t_ a date. So he shouldn’t feel bad for being stood up. He just... He didn’t know. Expected more from him? Figured he would actually show up because he and Mark had had spoken about this, and Mark felt like they were both feeling something similar. Had he read Hyuck wrong this whole time? Had he missed all the signs?

Suddenly, Mark felt pathetic in his black jeans and collard white button up. What was he thinking? A dinner? Just for returning his camera? Mark could have bought them ice cream and called it day, but he just _had_ to extend his thanks in the form of couples’ dinner, that wasn’t even couples’ dinner since it was just him and his lonesome and—

There was a tapping on the glass beside him and Mark jumped in his seat. Hyuck flashed him a grin and disappeared around the corner to enter the restaurant.

A little over thirty minutes late, but he was here. Mark did feel a surge of relief, but he wasn’t going to let Hyuck get away with being half an hour late. That was just being rude.

Hyuck came in with the sound of the bells ringing at the front, and Mark watched with his arms crossed as he pulled off his hood and ran a hand through his hair. Mark saw the tight jeans he wore, the nice, but slightly wrinkled, yellow shirt he had tucked in under his jacket. “Hey, I’m so sorry I’m late,” Hyuck said, taking a seat across from Mark.

All the reprimands Mark was about to say died on his lips when Hyuck finally lifted his head to look Mark in the eyes. The boy’s smooth face was marred with bruises around his eye, his lip was busted though he had done a pretty solid job of stopping the bleeding, and though at another time, Mark could appreciate his mussed hair, right now, he looked so _beaten._

“Hyuck…” Mark whispered, eyes trailing the black and blue on one side of his face. “What happened?” Now that Mark was looking closer, he was seeing bruises and cuts littering the boy’s knuckles. What was Hyuck doing before now?

His smile was still as radiant as before, even as he was stretching out the cut on his lip. “Oh, this?” He gestured vaguely to his face. “It’s nothing, really. There was a, um, wild cat that got stuck in a tree. And my neighbor couldn’t get him down, so I decided to help.” He laughed weakly. “Clearly, the cat won.”

“A cat did this to you?” Mark gently lifted Hyuck’s hand that was red and bruised. “Hyuck, what’s really going on? Is everything okay at home?”

Hyuck pulled his hand back, dropping it onto his lap and out of sight. “Yeah! Everything is okay at home.” Mark gave him a look. “Promise,” Hyuck stressed. “My brother wouldn’t hurt a fly. Trust me. All he does is be gay for the barista at the café on 43rd.”

And maybe, it was the splash of the bright neon blue and pink lights from outside casting Hyuck’s bruised face into a motely of colors, but Mark understood that Hyuck wanted him to drop it. It was there in the way his eyes widened, the way his lip pouted out ever so slightly, the way his hair looked like Mark could run his fingers through it. Trust. He needed to trust Hyuck that everything was okay.

“Okay,” Mark said hesitantly. “But if you ever need to talk, I’d be more than willing to listen,” He offered.

Hyuck smiled warmly. “Thank you. It means a lot.”

Mark cleared his throat. “So, uh, what would you like to order?” He passed Hyuck a menu, trying not to let his stare linger on his knuckles.

Hyuck shoved the menu back. “You pick. I was late, and you know this place more than I do anyway.”

They ended up getting the day’s special of spicy seafood ramen, sharing a plate of dumplings and retelling stories of their high-school experiences. It was fun. Mark couldn’t have put it any other way. He enjoyed Hyuck’s company, he liked the other boy’s sharp wit and silver tongue. They spoke about anything that came into conversation, and Mark was starting to believe in those feelings of being whipped for a certain somebody.

But there was something nagging in the back of his mind. Hyuck was hiding something. Mark knew it. There was a layer of the boy he didn’t know, and it infuriated him every time he thought about it, because he just couldn’t figure it out. First, the bandaged hand yesterday, and now he was completely beat up. He might have let the hand thing slide, but the boy across from him in black and blue didn’t feel right. And how did he manage to get his camera back? The only people who could have seen where Mark had left it were Spider-man and that villain. So, how did Hyuck of all people find it?

“Hey,” Mark began, as they finished their meal. “How did you find my camera?”

Hyuck lightly tapped around his busted lip. “Like I said, I was taking a walk and it was right there.”

Mark hummed. “That was just weirdly coincidental,” He admitted. “Only Spider-man and that man were there that day. They were the only ones who would have seen the camera.”

Hyuck shrugged. “Maybe I have wicked good sight, who knows?”

Mark cracked a smile. “You’re a life saver,” he said.

“Oh, you have no idea,” Hyuck muttered quietly, but Mark didn’t pay much attention.

“No, I’m serious. I have a trip with the newspaper club tomorrow to Wayv Genetics and I was supposed to get a photo of its CEO, Ten Lee. And I was terrified that I would have to use my phone camera instead of my best one.”

Hyuck’s head shot up so fast it nearly startled Mark. “Wayv Genetics? As in the genetic engineering company?”

“Well, technically, it’s a biomedical company—”

“You’re supposed to meet Ten?”

“Yeah, I’m—”

“Can I come?”

Mark stopped. Since when was Hyuck invested in genetics? With big companies?

Hyuck must have seen the confusion. “Aside chemistry, genetics have always fascinated me,” He explained, the words sounding strained. “I wanted to be a bio-chem major in college,” He tacked on sheepishly.

“I…I mean it’s for the journalism club,” Mark began, unsure of what to say.

Hyuck leaned back in his seat. “I see,” He said nonchalantly. “Don’t worry about it,” He brushed off. “It would have been fun.”

“How about we have that photoshoot later tomorrow?” Mark suggested, feeling bad that Hyuck couldn’t come with him.

“That would be wonderful,” he replied, smiling so wide that Mark could feel the sting of his split lip on his own.

And it was because Mark was looking at the red lips that he noticed that it was leaking again. He frowned, snatching up one of the last few clean napkins they had and leaned forward. “Here,” He said quietly. Hyuck tilted his head, but leaned in anyway, meeting Mark in the middle. Slowly, gently, Mark used the tip of his finger and the napkin to dab away at his lip. The once white napkin began turning red and Mark watched carefully, making sure to catch any drop of blood.

But then Hyuck’s lips spread again, squirting out more blood from his lips. Mark pouted. “Quit smiling, it’s not stopping the bleeding.” The napkin continued to turn red wherever he touched the busted skin, soaking up the blood.

“I can’t help it,” Hyuck said with equal softness. “You look really cute when you’re focused like this.” Mark’s fingers stilled, their breaths mingling over the table. “And your lashes are very pretty,” Hyuck continued, and all Mark could do was continue to stare at his lips.

Silence washed over them. It was just the two of them, drowning in a sea of neon blue and pink lights, in what felt like one square of space.

“I think your lips are also very pretty,” Mark blurted. He blinked the same time Hyuck did, and he quickly pulled away, settling back into his seat. “Or, they would be if you stopped going around and letting people punch you.”

Hyuck sat back as well, those lips twisting into a smile. “What if it wasn’t from a punch?” Hyuck leaned over again, this time getting closer to Mark all by himself.

“What—what do you mean?” Mark stammered, his vision wholly Hyuck and nothing else. “Of course it was a punch, how else could you have busted it like that?”

“Have you ever been kissed?”

Mark blinked. “Uh. No, not really,” He said quietly. It didn’t help that his heart was moving too fast for his breath to catch up.

Hyuck hummed softly in thought, his eyes dropping down to Mark’s own lips. “A shame,” He muttered, before sliding back into his own seat. Mark was _so_ confused. “You see,” Hyuck began. “Sometimes kisses can do this to you.” He gestured to his lip.

“Aren’t kisses supposed to be gentle?”

“Isn’t love supposed to be kind?”

“Love is kind,” Mark protested. “Showing kindness is love.”

“Sure,” Hyuck agreed, tracing a long, wiry, finger along the edge of the table. “It can go the other way too. Sometimes, love can be hurt. Sometimes, love exists only to hurt.” Mark peered at the mysterious boy in front of him, trying to understand his words. “And when love decides to go down that road, it doesn’t care who deserves it or who doesn’t.”

Mark was lost. He wasn’t entirely sure how they went from cleaning wounds to talking about philosophical topics like love. But he could piece together that maybe Hyuck was speaking from experience. Maybe he was sharing that part of himself that Mark couldn’t see.

But before Mark could press on, Hyuck took in a breath and the brightness in his eyes returned. “Should we head back? You’ve got a big day tomorrow.”

Hyuck was already getting up, so Mark had no choice but to pay for their meal as he promised and followed Hyuck back out into the cool city air.

“Thank you for the dinner,” Hyuck said politely once they were on the path leading to their homes. “You were right, that ramen was some of the best I’ve ever had.”

Mark scoffed. “I’m always right when it comes to ramen.”

“Next time can I take you to some of the city’s best coffee? You’ll get to see why brother goes weak in the knees every time we stop by.”

Mark bit on his lip to stop himself from grinning like an idiot. He leaned over and bumped his shoulder with Hyuck’s. “Are you asking me to go on a date with you?”

Hyuck smiled that sly smile of his. “It’s just coffee, Lee. And I’m always right about coffee.” Hyuck bumped his shoulder back.

“Okay, ‘just coffee’ sounds perfect.” They made it to where they usually split, Hyuck turning left and Mark going right. “Hey,” Mark began, turning to face the other boy. “I still mean what I said. If you ever want to talk, I’d be more than willing to listen.”

Hyuck nodded. “You’d be the first,” He promised.

“Also, get your face looked at,” Mark added on before Hyuck could leave.

“Why? You were looking at it plenty all night.”

Mark rolled his eyes. “No wonder the others love you so much,” He groaned. “I’m serious, Hyuck. Be more careful.”

Hyuck lifted a two-finger salute. “No promises.”

Mark turned away after giving a little wave. With Hyuck, ‘no promises’ would just have to be enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if someone draws this scene out with the neon lights and mark touching hyuck's lip and everything i think i'll melt more than i did while writing this 
> 
> also 2 part update today because the last chapter was sort of short but combining both would have made it waayyy too long so um yes. enjoy!!


	8. Chapter Seven

Going to Wayv Genetics meant that Mark didn’t have to attend class for the whole day. A small plus for all the extra work journalism gave him. The trip also allowed him to drive himself over to the building instead of taking a school-bus. Which was great for Mark, since he was able to get up early enough to stop by to pick up some needed coffee on his way there.

Now, standing in the front lobby of the building in his most business casual outfit he could put together, Mark gripped his coffee in one hand, his name tag in the other, and stared up at the modern and sleek design of the Wayv Genetics headquarters. The color scheme followed a white and light grey format, with polished tiles, glass elevators, and huge windows letting in all the sunlight. Men in women in suits and lab coats hurried past, holding briefcases and clipboards as they spoke in mumbled conversations. Over the reception desk was the huge silver logo of the letter V.

Mark stood with his school group, pinning his name tag to the lapel of his blazer. Faintly, he thought of how much Hyuck would have loved this place since he was so into genetics and engineering. A part of Mark missed him, wished that he was there next to him.

“Hello!” A voice chirped from ahead, and Mark turned his attention to the young man in a lab coat. When he smiled, there were deep dimples on either side of his cheeks. “Welcome to Wayv Genetics,” The man said warmly. “I’m Quian Kun and I am the lead project manager here, and it is my pleasure to be also be your guide for the day.” He stepped to the side and gestured up a short flight of stairs. “I would really appreciate it if you all followed me and not wander around. There are many dangerous and confidential sections around here that I’m not authorized to let you in to. Now,” Kun began walking up those steps, “up here, we have the main data base…”

Mark lingered by the back of the group, wanting to get a shot of the vast expanse that was Wayv Genetics. He lifted his camera, looking through the view finder. People crossed his shot, walking in all directions. Mark decided that maybe the huge V sign behind the desk would be a nice picture. He swung around, ready to level his camera with the silver logo when a head of all too familiar dirty brown hair stopped in front of the desk.

The figure was wearing dark pants and a light blue flannel that Mark guessed was left unbuttoned. He watched as the boy leaned over the desk, sharing small smiles and giggles with the woman behind the computer. Suddenly, the woman stood up and disappeared into an office room to the side. The boy leaned forward all the way, snatching something off the desk and slipping it into his back pocket just as the woman returned. Like that, they were back to being friendly with each other.

When their conversation finally ended, the boy nodded his goodbye and turned towards the elevators, located in their own hall around the corner from the receptionist desk.

Mark stared at Hyuck as he tapped on the elevator button going down, waiting for the next one to arrive. What was he doing here? By himself? He clearly wasn’t here with the journalism club, and Mark didn’t think any other club that day also happened to be at Wayv Genetics. And why did Hyuck steal something from the receptionists? What was going on?

His group was already near the top of the stairs, listening in on what Kun was saying about how data was managed and stored. He had to know what Hyuck was doing. If he could stop him from getting into trouble, then Mark could try to figure out why this was happening.

Mark scanned the whole room, finally finding a door with an image of stairs leading below. He gave one last look at his group disappearing into the first floor and hurried towards the stairway. The parking garage was the only thing down there, Mark thought. When he had parked this morning, he didn’t see any elevators leading any further than the garage, or any higher than the lobby of the building. So why was Hyuck going down there?

Mark took the stairs two at a time, worried that he would miss Hyuck. He burst through the door at the bottom, finding himself in the parking garage like he expected. Across a row of cars, the elevator dinged before the doors began to slide open. Mark rushed forward and crouched behind the closest car. He peeked over the top. Hyuck walked out, reaching into his back pocket for the thing he had stolen earlier. From here, Mark could make it out to be an employee’s card.

Hyuck was looking around him the whole time, high on alert. He reached a heavy door with a little black box next to it. Hyuck lifted the card to the black box until it beeped. Mark heard the lock disengage and Hyuck pushed the door open.

As soon as he disappeared, Mark darted forward, shoving his foot in between the door before it closed all the way. Mark entered, slowly closing the door behind him. He shouldn’t be here. He knew that. But Hyuck was a flight and a half down the stairs and Mark was getting afraid that he would lose the other boy.

He kept his distance, following slowly and as quietly as he could. Hyuck opened a door somewhere below him, and Mark heard it click with a close just as he reached the final flight of stairs. For a moment, he thought he was stuck since he didn’t have a card to get in. But this door didn’t have that little box. Holding his breath, Mark twisted the knob and opened the door just enough to let himself in.

He didn’t know this part of the building existed. The building he knew was one-hundred-twenty floors of labs and offices, being one of the most recognized structures in the city’s skyline. But this complex underground lab was entirely new. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious about what was down here.

There was a long hallway down to his right, and a maintenance room on his left, marking the end of the hall. Hyuck must have gone right then. Mark turned that direction, seeing only an office ahead. There were rows of cubicles, though they were all empty, computers on each desk. Beyond that was a glass room that was darkened except for the light coming from tall structures with wires coming in and out of them. Mark guessed it was more data storage. On the other side were glass office rooms for one person, also darkened. There was a larger desk, some filing cabinets, and a seating area for those who would come in. There was a hallway splitting the two glass rooms, leading down to one single door.

He came to a stop at the end of the office space, between the glass rooms, setting his hands on his hips. Now where did Hyuck go? Mark should have seen the other boy go down some direction, but for as far as he could tell, there was not a single soul down here. It was eerily quiet too, the only sound being the soft, muted hum of the electricity flowing throughout. Mark couldn’t see anyone, but he felt like someone was watching him. He shivered, pulling his blazer tighter around him. If he could only find Hyuck, then he could get out of here and get back with his group. There was still time, he could find them. He was about to go down the hall in front of him when he felt something shift behind him.

He didn’t have the time to turn around before a hand clamped down over his mouth and pushed him up against a wall. Mark felt his back collide with the plaster, but it took him a minute to realize what was going on over the incessant sound of his heart beating.

Hyuck was inches from his face, his own features pulled into a frown. The bruises from yesterday were mostly healed too, Mark noticed. Hyuck had one hand pushing Mark’s shoulder against the wall and the other still closed tightly on his mouth. Similar to that first time he and Mark had walked home together and had seen the police cars race to the park, Hyuck’s face was devoid of that cheeky brightness that Mark knew so well. Now, it was replaced with seriousness.

“What are you doing here?” He hissed.

Mark grunted beneath his hand before swatting it away. “What do you mean ‘what am I doing here’?” He shot back. “I was following you! What are _you_ doing here?”

“Nothing!” Hyuck answered far too quickly for Mark’s liking. “Aren’t you supposed to be with your club?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be at school?”

“No…” Hyuck hesitated, looking down at his feet. “Yes?”

Mark had enough. “Hyuck. Seriously. What are you doing here? Why are you constantly getting hurt? Why did you steal a badge from the front desk?”

“Um…” Hyuck began. “I have a lot to explain, and I know this looks bad, but I _can_ explain. Alright? Trust me.”

“So, explain.”

“Not…not right now. I can’t do it right now.”

“Why not?”

“I just…” Hyuck ran a hand through his hair. “Look, just go back to your group. Tonight, I’ll give you an explanation. Promise.” Hyuck took Mark’s arm and tried to lead him back the way he had come from, but Mark wasn’t having it.

“No. I need to know why you’re down here.”

“Mark—”

“Hyuck, what are you not telling me? I can help you in whatever way I can, but I need you to be honest with me,” Mark pleaded. He really did want to help him with whatever, but Mark could not piece together this puzzle for the life of him. None of this was making any sense. “Just _tell me._ ”

Hyuck, for a strange moment, looked sad. His shoulders dropped and a sigh escaped his lips. Then as fast as the expression had come, it was gone just as fast too. His head whipped up, listening to something that Mark couldn’t hear.

“What is it? What do you hear?” Mark asked, seeing Hyuck’s frown deepen.

“Shut up,” Hyuck hissed, dragging Mark away from the wall and into one of the glass office rooms. He pulled Mark down to a crouch behind the desk and held a finger up to his lips. “ _Don’t move_ ,” He mouthed, and Mark could only nod in response.

A short while later, Mark heard muffled voices. Two men in lab coats strode by where he and Hyuck were a moment ago. Mark shrunk back, hiding closer towards Hyuck.

“Has he been updated on trial 127?” One of them said.

“Not yet. They wanted to make sure they got it completely right. But you can tell him that trial 127 is showing the most promise.”

“The media will be all over it once it is released.”

“Good. It needs as much exposure as it can get.”

Mark and Hyuck peered over the edge of the desk, watching the two men open the door to the staircase Mark had just come down on. When it was silent again, he turned to Hyuck. “Who were they? What is going on?”

“I’m trying to figure that out,” Hyuck admitted. “All the latest accidents and events are linked, and I traced them all back to here. There’s something worse that they’re hiding, and I need to know what.”

“Why do you need to know so much?” Mark hissed.

Hyuck was staring at the hallway leading to that door the two men had walked out from. “I just need to know,” He whispered.

“Hyuck, this is breaking and entering.”

“Thank you for stating the obvious, I always appreciate you telling me what I already know.” Hyuck rolled his eyes. “You should go, Mark. Go back to the group, forget this ever happened, and get your picture.”

Mark punched Hyuck in his shoulder.

“Ow! What was that for?” He whined.

“For putting me into this mess,” Mark growled, standing up.

“What mess? I told you to go back!”

“And leave you alone?” Mark scoffed. “If you think it’s important, then I can help you. I just don’t want to…” Mark trailed off unable to voice the rest.

“Want to what?” Hyuck prompted.

Mark tried to glare at Hyuck as meanly as he could. “I don’t want to see you get hurt anymore.” He turned on his heel as soon as Hyuck’s lips twisted into that coy grin. “Are we going or not?” He asked instead.

Hyuck stood up as well. “Stay close. And don’t touch anything.”

They exited the office room and hurried towards the door. With bated breaths, Hyuck turned the knob and swung the door open.

It was darker here, dim blue computer lights being the only thing allowing them to see where they were stepping. The path ahead of them curved so that they couldn’t see what was around the corner. In between the low hum of electricity, Mark swore he could hear human screams.

“Uh, Hyuck?” He whispered, clinging to his arm. “Do you know where we are?”

Hyuck didn’t answer right away, and Mark could see his brows knitted tightly together as he focused on where they were going. “All the classified experiments are done down here.”

“I’m guessing they are classified for a reason?”

Hyuck only nodded. They continued walking in silence, following the curve of the path. Hyuck came to a stop in front of a tall glass panel bolted into the ceiling and the floor. There was white fog on the inside, making it impossible to see anything else. Mark squinted, seeing some of the fog swirl around. Maybe it was a trick of the light, but he swore that he saw a shadow. He peered closer, trying to make out what was making the fog move inside.

Suddenly, a hand slammed on the glass, bloodied and dirty. Mark yelped and stumbled back, right into Hyuck’s arms who watched what was happening with silence. The hand began pounding on the glass, and Mark only saw the rest of the arm before Hyuck audibly swallowed and ushered the both of them away. The arm too was covered in boils, all popped and oozing blood and pus down to the fingertips.

Mark was starting to feel sick, but Hyuck’s hand in his was enough to calm his rumbling stomach. Enough for him to notice something. “Hyuck, look.” He pointed to a glass enclosure with a number etched into the side. “127. Is this the trial 127 they were talking about?”

“I don’t know.” Hyuck approached the glass enclosure, Mark following close behind. Someone was sleeping on a cot. No, not sleeping. They were strapped down, but they had their eyes closed and they were unmoving. “Maybe they’re asleep?” Hyuck tried.

Mark opened his mouth to respond, eyes still fixated on the body in front of him, when the person suddenly shot up. Or tried to get up with the restraints holding them back. They arched their back, mouth stretched open in a silent scream.

“No! No! Leave me alone! I’ll do anything!” The screams were muffled but loud enough that Mark could make out the words. His heart sunk. Hyuck gripped his hand a little tighter, watching the person in front of them thrash around

“What’s wrong with them?” Mark whispered, unable to take his eyes off.

“I wish I knew,” Hyuck whispered back. “That’s why I have to figure this out.”

Mark frowned, forcing himself to look up at Hyuck. “I still don’t understand. Why is this _your_ responsibility? Why can’t we tell the police? Get them to do a whole investigation?”

Hyuck chewed on his lip. His _healed_ lip, Mark noticed. Whatever he had done last night worked wonders for all his injuries. “It has to be me.”

“Why?” Mark pressed.

Hyuck sighed. “Mark, if I told you something, would anything change between us?”

“Of course not. I know who you are, Hyuck. Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out together,” Mark assured, reaching out to squeeze his shoulder.

Hyuck nodded, not meeting his eyes. “I—”

“Over there!”

Mark and Hyuck both whipped their heads around to the sound. Four men in black with the word “security” on their vests pointed down to where they were standing.

“We have to go,” Hyuck said, grabbing Mark’s hand and tugging him down the hall.

“Hey! Stop!” The shouts behind them demanded them to freeze, but Hyuck pushed on and Mark could only follow. They ran past several glass enclosures, similar to the ones they had seen earlier, and as much as Mark wanted to know what was stored behind them, he could only catch glimpses of people in various states of decay. Some standing, some sitting, some not moving at all from their beds.

He focused on what was ahead, on Hyuck’s hand still in his as they ran as fast as they could. Mark heard the footsteps behind them, and fear pricked at his heart. What would happen if they were caught? Would they be the product of one of these classified experiments? Mark didn’t want to be given the chance to find out.

“Through that door ahead,” Hyuck said, pointing to a fast approaching door. He pushed Mark ahead of him, and Mark was startled to feel Hyuck’s hand gone from his. “I’m right behind you,” Hyuck called, and Mark continued to run. He heard metal clanging and then a loud hiss behind him. Mark twisted around to see Hyuck running up to him, but behind Hyuck, a piece of the roof was missing. And white steam poured out of one of the vents, blinding their pursuers.

“How did you…”

“Come on.” Hyuck swung the door open and they both stumbled in. This room was similar to the office space Mark was in earlier. Only now, the computers were massive screens, and huge robotic arms were stationary over a conveyor belt. Mark caught glimpses of tiny vials and colorless liquids neatly wrapped in bubble wrap and carefully placed in boxes.

Hyuck’s hand shot out in front of him, and Mark let out an _oof_ as he ran headfirst into his outstretched arm. “Why are we stopping?” He gasped.

Hyuck was staring ahead of him with wide eyes. A second later, the door in front of them burst open, more security guards thundering in. “Oh my God,” Mark whispered, frozen in his spot.

“Move!” Hyuck pushed him through a glass door that read _do not enter_ , towards the conveyor belt Mark had seen earlier. They took the short set of stairs two at a time, and then they were shooting down the length of the belt.

“Mark, get down!” Hyuck shouted, and Mark threw himself to the ground, crawling under the belt as loud pops went off around him. Were they _shooting_ at them? Something like glass shattered and the shouts were getting louder. Mark just wanted it all to stop. He didn’t think today was going to be the day he would die. He was supposed to be on a trip with his favorite club, writing an article on the breakthroughs of science, shaking hands with the CEO.

 _The CEO._ Was the CEO allowing all this to happen beneath his building? Was Ten aware that he had people suffering in cells? Was he allowing this to happen?

Mark’s back pressed into a box, and he took a moment to peer in. Hundreds of vials were carefully organized into their respective slots, prepared to be packaged and sent away.

Something else crashed behind him. Mark snatched up one of those vials and pocketed it just as Hyuck slid under the belt with him. Mark only had the time to look at Hyuck’s panicked face before one of the robotic arms crashed to the ground, blocking the path between them and the security guards chasing them.

Mark stared at the damage, at the shattered glass lining the floor, the billions of dollars’ worth of equipment destroyed. “Did you do all that?” He asked weakly.

“They were asking for it,” Hyuck said simply. “We have to get to the end of this assembly line. There’s a door that leads to the stairs on the opposite side.”

“The _other side_?” How much more running were they going to have to do?

“Hey.” Hyuck gently took Mark’s hands in his. “I’m not going to let them hurt you.”

Mark was drowning in his eyes. Hyuck may or may not have said ‘promise’ after his sentence, but Mark didn’t need to hear it. It was there on his face. It was there in how gently his was stroking Mark’s thumb. He knew that Hyuck would be by his side. And Mark knew that he would still be there for Hyuck. Whatever this was, this was a two way thing.

“On three?” Mark whispered.

“One.” Hyuck began counting down.

“Two.” Mark shifted so that he was ready to run, ready to keep Hyuck next to him.

“Three.” They rolled out from underneath the belt and shot forward. Mark tried very hard to ignore the shouts behind them, just keeping his eyes hyper-focused on the door that would lead them to safety. He burst through, slamming the door open. And then they were hurtling up the stairs as fast as they could.

Mark’s lungs and legs were burning, his backpack was bouncing with every step he took, but beside him, Hyuck didn’t look out of breath at all. Still, Mark pushed himself, twisting up and up the stairs until he shoved open another door and they landed in the parking garage.

He and Hyuck slammed to a stop. “You drove here, right?” Hyuck asked.

“Yeah,” Mark managed to wheeze.

“Where’s your car?”

Mark patted down his blazer searching for his keys. Behind them the shouts picked up again. “Mark…” Hyuck called as a warning, the both of them already sprinting down the garage.

“I’m trying!” He finally pulled out his keys and hit the lock button over and over again, listening to the beep. He could hear it close by. “This way!” He launched himself down between rows of cars, catching a glimpse of the men beginning to circle them. Mark crossed the road and found his car lighting up just a few feet away. Relief flooded through him at the sight of it. They were almost there, they could make it.

“Stop!” One of the guards stepped out from behind a car, aiming his gun at them. He and Hyuck staggered to a halt, Mark’s stomach dropping. No. _No._ They were so close. His car was _right_ there.

“Mark, get to your car.” Hyuck’s voice was low, on edge.

“No. Do not move,” The man demanded. Mark was frozen.

“Mark,” Hyuck said again, keeping his eyes on the guard. “Your car.”

“I’m warning you,” The guard said, latching the safety off his weapon.

Mark stared with wide eyes and an open mouth. He really was going to shoot. They were either going to die here in the parking garage, or down in some cell beneath the building. They lost. They couldn’t make it out this time.

Two things happened at the same time, maybe one of those things happening a fraction of a second faster.

Mark only took one step back. Just one. He had stopped staring at the man and was instead watching Hyuck. He saw it happen in slow motion. Like watching through his camera right before he pressed on the shutter.

Hyuck extended his hand, stretching out his wrist. Something thin and bright white shot out of his wrist, sticking to a man-hole cover in the ground. Hyuck jerked his wrist back, pulling the cover with him, just as the man pulled the trigger. The bullet harmlessly clattered off the metal cover.

The world seemed to stop moving. Mark froze, the man froze, even Hyuck, for a split second, froze. Hyuck flicked his wrist again, using that sticky substance out of his wrist to throw the metal cover at the man. It hit him square in the face and he went down with a grunt.

Mark was still frozen. He stood, mouth agape, staring and staring at the boy in front of him.

Hyuck turned around slowly, pain etched into his features. For a moment, neither of them said anything. It didn’t matter that the others could circle them soon. It didn’t matter that they were just chased through the whole basement of the building. None of it mattered. It was just Mark and the boy. Vaguely, Mark was reminded of their dinner last night, how he had that same isolated feeling then as he was having now.

“Mark…” Hyuck began softly.

“You…you’re Sp—”

“There!”

The rest of security had made it, sending Mark’s world spinning again.

“Mark, get into the car,” Hyuck hissed, and Mark darted to the driver’s side, unlocking the car for Hyuck to slip into the passenger seat. He jammed the keys into the ignition as Hyuck slammed the door and threw the car into reverse, sliding out of the parking spot.

“Stop! Don’t move!” He heard someone shout, but their voice was very far away.

He threw the car into drive, stepped on the gas, and the car lurched forward, shooting down the garage. The security guards jumped out of the way as Mark sped out of the garage and into the sunny afternoon of the city.

It was silent for ten minutes. Mark broke it first. “Spider-man. You’re Spider-man.”

Hyuck audibly winced. “Surprise,” He said weakly.

Mark connected all the dots. The injuries, his camera, his _name._ Mark never told Spider-man his name, but Hyuck knew it all along. Even the damn “don’t worry about it” was an exact replica of what they both said. Or what he said. Whatever.

“All those times…” Mark muttered.

“It would make my job a little easier if you stopped putting yourself in the middle of danger,” Hyuck said gently, watching Mark closely. 

Mark turned to glare at him. “This isn’t over,” He said, turning back to the road. “Where are we going? I’m not going back to school, and I don’t have an excuse for my parents to show up at mine.”

“We can go to mine,” Hyuck offered.

Mark nodded, gripping the steering wheel. “Lead the way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUN DUN DUUUNNNNNN the secret's out doDO DOOOO also OT23????? NCT 2020???? i'm SO hype


	9. Chapter Eight

Hyuck lived in an apartment only about ten minutes from Mark’s own place. Mark pulled into an empty space and Hyuck took him up several flight of stairs. They came to a stop in front of a door on the eighth floor. Hyuck hesitated before knocking softly.

Mark heard a soft voice from inside, humming to themselves, and Hyuck laughed under his breath. The lock clicked. “Yuta, I do _not_ have your stupid Tupperware—oh.”

The prettiest man Mark had ever seen swung open the door, wearing loose striped pants and a striped shirt, but Mark was sure that _only_ this man could pull something off like that. “Hyuck, what are you doing back from school? I thought you were staying back today.”

“Hi, hyung,” Hyuck said. “The chem lab was closed for the afternoon,” He explained smoothly. Taeyong eyed him, not truly believing, but his big eyes slid over to Mark.

“You brought home a boy?”

“Not like that!” Hyuck said quickly. “He’s just…” He cleared his throat. “This is Mark. Mark, this is my brother, Taeyong hyung.”

“Nice to meet you, sir,” Mark said politely, shaking the other man’s thin hand.

“No need to call me that,” Taeyong said kindly, smiling big and wide. Mark could see the resemblance in their smiles. “Come in!”

Taeyong and Hyuck lived in a pretty mediocre apartment, but it was all the colorful furniture, the art hung up on the walls, the neatness of the kitchen that made it look way bigger than it truly was. “Do you want anything to eat? I have to head out soon, but I’m sure there’s something in the fridge I could make real fast,” Taeyong offered, already heading to the kitchen.

Hyuck ushered Mark towards one of the bedrooms in the back. “Uh, no thanks,” He answered. “If we get hungry, I can order something.”

“Okay,” Taeyong relented. “Mark, don’t let Hyuck near the kitchen. He’ll only poison you with his cooking.” 

Mark’s entire face was heated at the thought of something so domestic with Hyuck.

“Hyung!” Hyuck shrieked, offended.

The man only laughed. “I’m kidding. I’ll leave ten dollars by the lamp.”

“Thanks, you’re the best.”

“Always,” Taeyong said with a wink. Mark tried to smile politely back. He was definitely seeing similar mannerisms between the two.

Hyuck pushed Mark into his room and shut the door behind him. Hyuck’s room was so…Hyuck. Mark didn’t know how else to put it. There were glow in the dark stars stuck up on the wall behind his bed, trailing all the way up to the ceiling. On his desk sat what looked to be a few school textbooks. Posters of bands and vinyl in glass frames adorned his walls. And the wall space beside his closet was dedicated to photos. Quite a few with him and his brother.

“Does your brother—”

“No,” Hyuck said, crossing his room to the small balcony. “He doesn’t know, and I’d like for him to not know.” He pushed up his window with a small grunt and crawled out. He turned, holding his hand out for Mark.

“Does anyone know?” Mark took his hand, warm and calloused, but his hand fit perfectly into his. As it always had.

“Just you.” Hyuck helped him out onto his balcony. They stood above hundreds of people walking below them, getting to their destinations. Cars and yellow cabs slowly trailed on through the evening traffic. Since the weather was getting cooler and the sun was setting faster, the city lit up earlier in the day. Hyuck’s balcony was surrounded by skyscrapers, peppered with lights in the still setting sunlight.

A heavy wave of silence washed over them. Mark braced his forearms against the balcony rail, leaning over, watching the night life slowly replace the calm of the evening. Hyuck stood some distance away, hands shoved into his pockets as he stared up at the tall buildings light up.

“How long?” Mark asked finally. He had a million questions rolling around in his mind and he just had to spit one out first. From there, he could start to try to piece this whole thing together.

Hyuck didn’t turn to face him. “Three months, fifteen days,” He said.

Mark nodded, knowing that Hyuck wasn’t seeing the movement. “How?”

Hyuck sighed, running a hand through his hair. It must be a nervous tick. “It’s a story I don’t really want to think about,” He said slowly. “The working theory is a radioactive spider bit me and one day I woke up with crazy strength and sticky fingers.”

“It’s connected with Wayv Genetics?” Mark hazarded a guess.

Hyuck nodded, staring down at the people below. “If this happened to me with a spider bite, then what else could be possible? You saw what they were doing.”

Mark remembered the horrible state all the patients, or victims, were in with a shiver. “Has it always been Wayv Genetics?” He asked.

“No. When I first figured all this out, I was returning stolen bikes, stopping ATM robberies, that sort of thing. This would be the first huge…bad guy,” He settled on, for a lack of a better word.

“And you haven’t told anyone?” Mark couldn’t even begin to imagine the stress Hyuck would have been under, between trying to save lives and keeping his identity hidden. It would have taken a toll on anyone else.

“Well, no one would believe me anyway,” Hyuck admitted. “And if Taeyong hyung knew, he’d never let me leave the house.” He sighed heavily, finally forcing himself to look over at Mark with a small smile. “I wish I could have told you earlier. There were so many times I was _so_ close to just spilling it all to you.”

Mark took a step closer, noticing how the dying sun rays and the bright light of the city beyond them splashed onto Hyuck’s tan skin. It made him look…heavenly. He could be the sun himself. “Why didn’t you?” He asked gently.

Hyuck opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again. “I don’t know,” He groaned, burying his face into his arms. “I was afraid. I was being a coward. I don’t know,” He repeated.

“What were you afraid of?”

“The most obvious? That you’d get hurt and it’d be my fault,” Hyuck mumbled from underneath his arms.

“And the less obvious?”

A pause. “That you’d leave me. That you’d see me as some sort of freak, and I’d lose everything that we had.”

Mark’s heart was shaking, he could feel it near cracking. Perhaps it was. “Hyuck, do you remember what I said back at the basement?”

Hyuck paused again. “You said that you knew who I was.”

Mark hummed. “It’s still true.” He leaned over the balcony again, rubbing shoulders with Hyuck. From here, the lights from all the tall buildings looked like stars. He and Hyuck were alone in their own universe, the stars twinkling and shining all around them. And here, Mark could be the first to protect a hero. “I know who Lee Donghyuck is. And I know that it’s Lee Donghyuck before Spider-man.” He reached out, linking pinkies with Hyuck. “Lee Donghyuck in a mask is still Lee Donghyuck. Nothing changes.”

Hyuck lifted his head, and for the first time, Mark could see the exhaustion painted on his face. How had Hyuck managed to do this for three full months? “I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you sooner,” Hyuck whispered.

Mark pulled on his pinky enough to hold his whole hand. “I’m glad you trust me enough to tell me.” Hyuck squeezed his hand and Mark felt warmth bloom in his chest. “So, what are you going to do?”

Hyuck turned back to the city lights before them. “Something. I have to put an end to the experiments. Shut down the whole thing if it came down to it.” Mark figured. There wasn’t a lot they could do to expose this without stopping it entirely. It would be for the best anyway.

“We’ll work on a plan,” Mark assured, already thinking of ways they could bring down this hell show.

“Wait, _we_?” Hyuck’s head snapped over to him.

Mark’s face fell. “No. Don’t pull that shit on me. I’m helping you, and you can’t stop me.” He got the biggest bomb shell dropped on him and Hyuck expected him to sit this one out? Never in a million years.

“Mark, you saw how dangerous it can be. I can’t be the one to put you in that situation.”

“You’re not putting me anywhere,” Mark shot back. “I’m doing this on my own.”

“It’s my responsibility, let me handle it.”

“Share the damn burden,” Mark hissed. “It was your responsibility for three months, now let me share some of it.”

Hyuck stared for a minute, and Mark glared as hard as he could, trying to get his message across that he was going to help one way or another. “Fine,” Hyuck said, throwing his hands up. “But you won’t be there physically. You can help from here.”

Mark groaned. “I said I was—”

Hyuck whipped around, his arm extending. Mark heard a whizzing sound and then something sticky landed on his hand resting on the railing. He gave it a tug. Nothing. He couldn’t move.

“Hyuck, what the fuck is this,” he seethed, pulling harder on his arm.

“I’m sorry, Mark, I can’t put you in a risky place.” Hyuck shot out another web and his backpack came flying towards him. He caught it and slipped it on. He gave a pointed look to Mark’s hand still stuck on railing that he was desperately trying to pull away. “That will melt in like an hour or so. Taeyong hyung is at work and there is a spare key under the doormat. If you could lock the place when you leave later, that would be sick.”

“Hyuck, stop. Let me go right now,” Mark demanded.

Hyuck swiftly and nimbly leapt onto the railing. “Sorry, Mark. I’ll cover dinner next.”

“Hyuck!”

The other boy shot out a web, sticking it to one of the many buildings towering over them and jumped. “Lee Donghyuck!” Mark yelled, helplessly watching Hyuck swing over the city and away from him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love taeyong he's just simping for everyone like the rest of us king behavior ugh


	10. Chapter Nine

"So, Hyuckie is Spider-man.”

“No! I didn’t say that!”

“Mark, buddy, you’re in Hyuck’s apartment with spider webs all over you,” Renjun said flatly. “We’re not idiots, and it isn’t hard to put two and two together.”

Mark was still trying to scrub away the last of the webs on his hand. After Hyuck had left him, he had reached for his phone and called the others, telling them Hyuck’s address and to use the key Hyuck had mentioned to get in. At another time, Mark would be worried about his friends intruding into someone else’s house, but they were on a time limit now.

He groaned, drying his hands. “Let’s just _assume,_ okay? You can ask him yourself once we find him.”

“Oh, Hyuckie is _totally_ Spider-man,” Chenle said from his position lounging on Hyuck’s bed. He was playing with a bit of web that was left on the railing after Jeno had cut Mark free. “That after school chem thing he asks me and Jisung to help him with was about developing webs.” He chucked it against the wall and watched how it stuck firmly to the plaster.

Mark stared open mouthed. “You _knew_? And you didn’t bother telling anyone?”

“Relax,” Jisung chimed in. “We were both only like sixty-four percent sure. But now it’s like a hundred percent. I don’t know why you keep denying it.”

“Aw, Mark is still trying to protect his boyfriend’s identity,” Jaemin crooned as he does in any situation, good or bad.

“Okay,” Mark said, clapping his hands to pointedly ignore Jaemin’s statement. He saw Jeno pat a comforting hand on Jaemin’s arm. “Hyuck’s going to Wayv Genetics. They’re running dangerous experiments in the basement that is hurting people. Hyuck said he wanted to bring the whole thing down, but let’s just focus on finding him first.”

“You have a plan?” Jeno asked.

“Of sorts.” Mark fished around in his pocket, pulling out the vial he had taken from the assembly line earlier. “I found this in the basement, but I have no idea what it is,” He said, holding it up for the others to see. “I think it’s making the patients react the way they do.”

Jisung took it from him and uncapped the lid. He took a sniff and crinkled his nose. “There’s a sulfur-based compound in there,” He reported.

Chenle took it from him and sniffed too, pulling it back almost immediately. “Oh, yeah. For sure. I’m thinking a thiol, or a mercaptan.”

“They really are going to break into the Pentagon,” Jeno said with a low whistle.

Mark pointed to him. “You’re taking Chenle and Jisung back to the school so you can run that through a lab. Find out what exactly is in it.” He turned to Renjun and Jaemin. “We’re going back to Wayv Genetics. I can’t get in without a key card, so we need to grab one of those.”

“We have to steal from them?” Jaemin asked, scratching at his head. “I mean, it shouldn’t be a problem, but don’t they know what you look like?” He gave a pointed look to Mark.

Mark knew that he himself couldn’t walk into the lobby without the whole thing being blown. But one of the others could. Specifically, one of the others who had a disarming smile and a gentle voice. “Jaemin, you’re going to have to get one,” Mark said, with a wince. Since when did their lives resort to thievery? A strange turn of events.

Jaemin, to his credit, only shrugged. “Easy. Last week, I convinced Mr. Suh that I had already turned in my paper a day early.” The boy had the audacity to look proud of himself. “It earned me one more night to start and finish it.”

“How will you graduate?” Renjun shook his head.

“Teach me,” Jisung said with awe, earning a smack on the arm by Jeno.

Mark turned his attention to Renjun. “Renjun, can you get into the most basic level security? Just enough to see what their security is seeing?”

Renjun cracked his neck. “One of these days you will all fear me.” Jaemin and Jeno collectively sighed with content. Mark fought the urge to heave.

“How are we going to stay in contact?” Chenle asked, already slipping the vial into his pocket. “We just stay on our phones the whole time?”

“Um, Airpods?” Jisung asked. “Or any headphones. They all work the same way as earpieces.”

“We’ll be like spies,” Chenle joined, holding up finger guns and poking Jisung.

“Okay,” Mark said, his plan finally taking solid shape. “Keep us updated on that vial. Once Jaemin gets the key card, I can get in the same way we got out earlier. Renjun and Jaemin can tell me what’s happening from the car.”

“We’re not coming with you?” Renjun asked.

Mark couldn’t put them in that position. It was too dangerous. “I can’t let you—”

“Good.”

“Wait, what?”

“I’m trying to live to see twenty, Mark Lee. Your plan is stupid, but I want you to live to see twenty-one. And if anyone can save your ass, it’s us. I’m just glad you asked us to help instead of doing this alone.”

Mark was left speechless. That was easier than he thought it would be. “O-okay,” He stammered. “Let’s go, then.”

A short while later, Mark was watching the doors leading to the lobby of Wayv Genetics with an abated breath, nearly chewing off his fingernail. Renjun’s quick typing in the back seat was the only noise in the car. He gripped the steering wheel. Last time, Hyuck sat in the passenger seat next to him. Now, he was God knew where. Mark hoped they weren’t too late.

Finally, _finally,_ a mop of bright blonde hair with blue streaks happily skipped out of the lobby, a huge smile plastered onto his face. Mark felt relief wash through him as he unlocked the door and Jaemin slid in.

“Got ‘em.” He held up a key card between two fingers. “The lady was sweet, I almost feel bad for knocking the cup of pens all over her desk,” he pouted.

“Na Jaemin, you scare me sometimes,” Mark breathed, taking the card.

Renjun groaned behind them, still typing away. Jaemin giggled. “Me, you idiot. You’re supposed to fear me.”

“How could anyone fear you, Injunnie. You’re so _tiny_! Get into my pocket right now,” Jaemin cooed, crawling over the center console and landing with an _oomph!_ in the back. Renjun paid him no attention.

“Okay, I got into their security cameras,” He informed, twisting the laptop around so Mark could see. Several small boxes filled the screen, flickering as Renjun switched cameras. “I believe this set are the basement cameras.” He hit a button and the screen changed to the quiet emptiness of the basement. Mark recognized the glass cells, the cubicles, even the conveyor belt he and Hyuck had hidden under earlier that day.

“That’s it,” He confirmed. “Keep an eye on that and let me know if there’s anything I need to be worried about.” Mark slipped in a pair of Airpods.

“Can you hear me?” Jaemin’s voice crackled through the device and Mark nodded. “Good luck. Stay safe. If things start to go south, get the hell out of there.”

“Yeah, Mark,” Renjun added. “These are some powerful people. Be careful.”

Mark nodded. He should be feeling terrified about going back, but he wasn’t. All he could think about to keep those fears at bay was Hyuck and getting him back. That’s all he wanted. “I will,” He promised. “An hour and a half max. I’ll be back.” Mark exited the car and headed towards the door he and Hyuck had left through.

There was a little black box and Mark sucked in a breath and swiped the card. He heard the beep and the lock disengage, and then he was in.

Following the path they took wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. He remembered all the turns they took clearly, which door lead to what, and with Renjun and Jaemin in his ear telling him the coast was clear, he was feeling pretty confident. As he walked, he paused shortly to take photographs. He used his phone this time, afraid to bring his baby out there again. But as he passed the conveyor belt, the damage from earlier still prominent, he made sure to take as many pictures he could, just in case. Plus, taking the pictures provided him with some comfort. Maybe he could find Hyuck without running into any trouble.

Mark walked past all the huge monitors, the robotic arms. It was utterly silent. No hum of the machines that are brought to life, no footsteps other than his own. Mark only heard himself breathe.

He quickly reached the door that led to the collection of the glass enclosures. Mark mentally prepared himself for what lay behind. He wasn’t going to linger; he was going to pass through as quickly as possible. He took in a deep breath and pushed it open.

Like before, low blue light lit up the path ahead of him. Mark took tentative steps forward, keeping his head low as he shuffled through. There was a very negative thought knocking at the forefront of his mind that he couldn’t ignore. _What if Hyuck was in here?_ Mark hoped with every inch of him that he wasn’t here, but still. He lifted his head and forced himself to at least spare a glance through the glass.

“Mark, we have news,” Jaemin’s voice cut in.

“What is it?”

“Chenle called. They said that the liquid was definitely a drug, either injected into someone or put into a drink. He said a bunch of other science stuff, but bottom line is that the drug has hallucination effects on the mind.”

Mark stumbled a step, seeing people in the same position as he had seen that morning. “It causes hallucinations,” He said, understanding now why the victims were behaving the way they were.

“Yeah. Pretty nasty stuff. But he said that the three of them recognized most of the chemicals used.”

“ _Compounds,_ ” Renjun corrected.

“Whatever,” Jaemin brushed off. “Since they recognized them, they said that they can formulate an anti-drug-thing.”

“What, like a cure?” Mark asked.

“Sort of,” Renjun added. “They can’t be sure unless it’s used on someone under the drug, but most times they’re right. Chances are it could be a cure.”

“If they’re done, tell them to meet up with you guys with the cure,” Mark said. “Just in case we need it.” He once again hoped that they wouldn’t need it.

“Got it,” Jaemin said, and it was silent once more.

Mark passed cell after cell, seeing little to no movement at all. And no Spider-man. Part of him was frustrated that they hadn’t found him yet, but another part of him was relieved that Hyuck wasn’t here. Feeling on edge, he walked faster, trying to get around the cells as fast as he could.

He nearly missed it. He was so focused on getting to the end of the cells that he would have missed it. Were it not for movement inside of the cell, Mark would have totally missed it. He stopped in his tracks the same time the movement stopped.

Neither one of them moved for what felt like forever. Mark’s heart stuttered.

“Mark?” Renjun’s voice splintered through. “You stopped. Why did you stop.”

Mark stared and stared. “I found him,” he whispered. He didn’t hear what was going on on the other line, instead running up to the glass, planting his palms against it. “Hyuck!” He shouted, hoping the other boy could hear him. Hyuck was in his Spider-man suit, but Mark could see the way his eyes widened. He noticed the way he was frozen in his spot. “Hold on, Hyuck, I’m going to get you out.”

Mark rushed to the side, feeling along the edge of the case for something that would unlock it. His fingers brushed across something that felt like the little black box from outside and Mark scrambled to pull out the card. He swiped it, watching the red dot turn green. There was a hiss and Mark stepped back. A panel from the glass pushed out and then slid to the side.

Mark didn’t wait for the door to slide all the way before he hurtled inside and wrapped his arms around Hyuck. He smelled the spandex of the suit, but there was no denying that Hyuck was under there. “You nearly gave us a heart-attack,” He mumbled into the crook of his neck. Mark squeezed tighter, both of them stumbling back. He had done it. They found him, and now they could go home, and it would be okay again.

“Is this...is this real?” Hyuck’s voice sounded hoarse, like he had been screaming for hours before. Mark pulled away to look at him. Hyuck tore off his mask revealing a tear-stained face and messy hair. “This isn’t real,” He said, those eyes welling up with water. “No, this isn’t…” he backed away from a very confused Mark, running his hands through his hair as he paced. “It’s not real, Hyuck. He’s not there, he’s not there, he’s not there,” He muttered to himself in a shaky voice.

“Hyuck?” Mark called out. What was going on with him? What did he mean none of this was real? “Hyuck, what’s wrong?”

“Not real,” He whispered shakily. “It’s just the drug, it’s not real, he’s not real.”

Mark’s stomach flipped. The drug. They had injected him with the drug. But they had an antidote. Mark just had to get him back to the others. “Hyuck! Listen to me!” He caught Hyuck by the shoulders. “I’m _real._ This is real.” Hyuck stared at him, face broken as he tried to sort out what was reality and what was the nightmare in his head. “I’m here, Hyuck. I’m real, and I’m right here.” Mark slipped his hand into Hyuck’s, squeezing. “Don’t listen to what’s going on in your head. Focus on me.”

Hyuck shook his head, shutting his eyes tightly. “They injected the drug in me,” He explained, slowly holding Mark’s hand back.

“I know,” Mark said gently. “We have an antidote. You’ll be okay, I promise.”

“I was seeing you,” He said softly, head bowed as he stared at their hands intertwined. “I watched you die in front of me a hundred times.” His voice cracked and Mark felt his own heart tremble. “I watched all of them die. Renjun, Jaemin, Jeno, Jisung, Chenle.”

“We’re all alive, Hyuck,” Mark assured, cupping Hyuck’s cheek and wiping away the tears with his thumb. “It’s all in your head, we’re all okay.”

“I couldn’t do anything,” Hyuck whimpered, and Mark was going to lose it. He was already feeling the emotion choking his throat. “I—I couldn’t _save_ any of you.”

Mark swallowed the lump in his throat. He had to not crumble. He couldn’t for Hyuck. But _God_ it was so hard. Hyuck was no longer the bright and sunny boy he had fallen for. All Mark could see was the pain, the stress, the _fear_ weighing him down on his shoulders. “It’s okay, Hyuck,” Mark said as soothingly as he could. “Look, we’re all saving you now. Come on, we have something that will help.”

Mark slipped his arm around Hyuck’s waist to support him. But they only got one step before the glass panel slid back into place, locking them in. Mark’s head whipped up.

“So, you’re the Mark he’s been yelling about,” A voice said. Mark saw the glint of Ten’s metal eye before he stepped forward. Behind him was the man who was supposed to be their guide earlier. Kun, Mark thought his name was. “A pleasure to meet the man of the hour.”

“Let us go,” Mark growled, holding Hyuck a little tighter.

“No, you see, you’re holding one of my favorite specimens.” Ten walked stiffly, shoulders and back slick straight. “We knew what the drug did to ordinary people, but to someone as powerful as Spider-man? No other company has ever been able to test anything on that type of blood.” His cat-like gaze slid over to Hyuck watching everything with wide eyes. Mark thought he was trying to decide if even this was real or not. “Looks like the drug works beautifully on him too.”

“What are you doing to him?” Mark got out through clenched teeth.

“As Spider-man, your friend here has the capabilities to heal injuries at a faster rate,” Ten explained. “I wanted to know what would happen if we inflicted a trigger in his mind. Would he heal then? Or will he succumb?” He walked to the side, gesturing to Kun. “Would you like to see it in action?”

Kun, for his part, looked queasy, unsure. Still, as Ten pointed at him, Kun twisted a knob on a device in his hand.

Mark wasn’t prepared for Hyuck to yell in pain and crash to his knees. Mark quickly dropped down next to him, wincing at how Hyuck was clutching his head in his hands, ragged breaths of pain coming out of him.

“The setting was on low for a while, so this is interesting to see when the setting was increased,” Ten said, and Mark swore he heard mirth in his voice.

“Stop it,” He demanded, turning to glare at the man. “Stop, let him go.” Hyuck gasped beneath him. “Hyuck,” he pleaded, holding the boy’s head in his hands. “Hyuck, listen to me. It’s not real. Whatever you’re seeing, it’s not real.” Hyuck only groaned in response. “Let him go, _please_ ,” Mark begged, this time asking Kun. The man looked hesitant, but his fingers only hovered over the device.

“We have to see how long the drug will last,” Ten said carelessly. “Until it wears off, _if_ it wears off, he’ll be monitored.”

_If._ He said if. They didn’t even know if there was an end to this. Mark’s heart felt like it was going over a hundred beats per minute. “Hyuck,” He turned back to the boy. “Hey, look at me. I’m _real._ I’m alive. You have to overcome it. Hyuck, are you listening? You have to snap out of it.” Mark was begging at this point. “Come on, you’re stronger than it, you can fight it.”

Ten laughed, and Mark felt his blood boil. “I think we have an extra dose for you, Mark dear. Wait here, I’ll go get it.” Ten spun on his heel and left, Kun remaining behind.

Hyuck whimpered again. “Please,” Mark begged the man. “Please, just let us go. Stop hurting him, _please_.” He could feel his own tears hot and wet in his eyes, and it didn’t matter if they’d fall or not, he just wanted this to _end._

Kun sucked on his lip, thinking something through. With a sigh, he pressed a button on the device and Hyuck’s tense body loosened almost immediately. He fell limp into Mark’s hold. Mark gasped, staring at the man, not thinking Kun would actually do it.

“Ten isn’t the man I knew,” He said softly. “That Ten died a long time ago. This Ten has gears for a heart and wires for a brain.” Kun shook his head. “I’m in deep shit,” He muttered, slapping his card against the card reader. The door slid open once again. “Do your thing.” Kun walked away and didn’t look back.

Mark only took a second to watch Kun’s retreating body and the door slide open before he snapped into action. “Come on, Hyuck,” He muttered, hoisting the boy to his feet.

“It’s still in me,” Hyuck gasped, trying to put his feet underneath him. “I can…I can feel it.” He doubled over, leaving Mark to carry most of his weight.

“It’s fine,” Mark grunted, “the others have a cure, we just have to get to them.” He managed to pull them both out of the cell, and together they limped down the hall, going back the same way Mark had entered.

“Mark?” Hyuck wheezed as they trudged forward.

“Yeah?”

“This is real, right?”

Mark’s already shattered heart broke impossibly more. “Yeah, Hyuck, this is real.”

“Good. Because when I can stand on my own again, I’m decking you in your pretty face.”

Mark grunted again. “What? Why?” He paused, running the words though his head again. “Wait, _pretty_?”

“I told you not to come,” Hyuck said instead.

“And look where that got you, loser.”

“What would I do without my knight in shining armor,” Hyuck said, and Mark felt his eyeroll. “Anyways, yes pretty.”

“Hyuck, we are _not_ having this conversation right now.” How much longer was this hallway? Was it always this long? Granted, Mark wasn’t dragging Hyuck the past few times.

“Come on, it’s helping me keep my head in reality,” Hyuck whined, and Mark felt a weird sense of glee hearing Hyuck’s normal self return to him.

“Fine, I’ll bite. What about my pretty face?”

Hyuck managed a small laugh. “Well, your lashes for one. They really are pretty and long. You have a nice smile when you’re not angry at me. Also, your cheekbones are so high, I’m actually sort of jealous. And… I’ve always liked the mole on your neck.”

Mark wanted to tell him that he liked the constellations of moles on Hyuck’s neck, or how he saw a city lit up in his eyes when Hyuck looked at him, but he was busy on putting one foot in front of the other without letting the both of the tumble over. He opened his mouth to respond, but Hyuck beat him to it.

“Mark, wait.”

Hyuck just finished speaking as Ten reappeared in front of them, a vial in his hand. “Now, now,” He purred, placing a fist on his hip. “Where are we going now?”

“Hyuck, are you feeling any better?” Mark whispered.

He felt Hyuck shake his head imperceptibly. “Don’t let him get that near you.”

A heavy weight settled in Mark’s stomach. They were cornered. With Hyuck still on the drug, and Mark carrying the both of them, there was no way they could outrun the monster. How were they supposed to get out of this one? 

Ten took a step closer, his metal eye glinting and turning in the low light, and Mark took one back. _What to do, what to do, what to do._

Something moved behind Ten, and before Mark could realize what it was, a football sailed through the air and smacked Ten in the back of his head, knocking him to the ground.

It happened so fast that for a second, nothing happened. Then, Jeno’s head poked around the corner. “What’s up?” He asked casually, smiling his famous smile.

“Jeno, you just hit him in the head with a _football_ ,” Mark said amazed.

“I’m not star player for nothing,” Jeno said proudly. “I have something for you.” He pulled out a beaker, one of the ones they used in lab at school, filled with a green liquid. Jeno turned his nose up at the sight of it. “They argued about what color to make their ‘Hyuckie potion’ at the school,” He explained, passing the beaker over to Mark. “It doesn’t taste as bad as it looks.”

“They know?” Hyuck groaned.

“I didn’t tell them, I swear. They’re all just weirdly good at guessing.” Mark quickly unscrewed the lid and tilted it into Hyuck’s lips, letting him swallow the antidote slowly. When he finished, he stood back, Hyuck already standing on his own two feet. “Do you feel any different?” He asked cautiously.

Hyuck nodded, flexing his fingers. “So much better.” He turned to Jeno. “It tasted like shit by the way. I’m never eating out with you.”

Jeno scoffed, crossing his arms. “You should have tasted the earlier version.”

“I’ll pass,” Hyuck said sweetly, and Mark was already seeing him stand taller, the effects of the drug finally wearing off. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to put an end to a robot-man.”

He stalked past them, pulling the mask back on, and approached Ten who was stirring from the floor. No, not stirring. Ten’s arm was overlaid with metal, encasing like a shield all the way up to his neck and down his torso. Mark and Jeno took a step back, watching Ten rise to his full robotic form.

Hyuck crouched down low, one hand on the ground ready to help him launch up.

“Okay, then,” Hyuck said, keeping his eyes locked on the metal man before him. “Let’s dance.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOOOOH MAN what will they do now


	11. Chapter Ten

Mark knew that Hyuck could take care of himself and that he could fight well enough. But as he and Jeno watched him swing and stick to every surface in that room, the fear for his safety was still rolling around in the base of his stomach. So far, Hyuck had been dodging every swing, every hit, Ten was trying to land on him, and he seemed to be luring Ten back out towards the assembly line room where the stash of the drug was being kept. Which left enough room for Mark and Jeno to maneuver around in the cell area.

“Jeno, we have to get the others out,” Mark said, hurrying to the closest enclosure, the card already out.

“I didn’t bring any more of the Hyuckie Potion with me.”

The door slid open and the patient inside stopped to look at them with her head tilted. “It’s fine, let’s just get them out of the building first.” Mark passed Jeno the card and together, they began to gently usher the dozen patients out of their cells. Most were dazed, confused, similar to how Hyuck was, but not as extreme. Mark guessed they were on the lower setting that Ten had mentioned earlier.

Behind them, loud crashes and grunts were heard some distance away, and Mark swallowed the fear and wonder of how Hyuck was doing, holding off the robot man on his own. He would be fine; Mark was sure of it. Hyuck _had_ to be fine.

Once they had corralled everyone into a general area, Mark pulled Jeno over. “You can’t leave the same way you got in. Hyuck’s over there right now,” He explained. “Out that door is a bunch of cubicles and offices, but right across from it is a door that leads to the staircase,” Mark said, trying to recall how he had gotten down here the very first time. “If you take them up, you’ll land on the other side of the parking garage.”

Jeno nodded. “What about you?”

“I have to make sure Hyuck gets out too.” Something crashed again, and Mark turned towards the sound, itching to see what was going on. “We’ll run out of time,” He said to Jeno. “Go, and make sure all of you get out of the garage.”

“We’ll be a block away,” Jeno assured. “Walk out of here, both of you.”

Mark bumped his fist with Jeno’s. “We’ll be out soon.” He turned away as Jeno began herding the crowd in the opposite direction. Mark darted down the hallway, the glass enclosures now empty. Like last time, he flew down the curve of the hall, seeing the damage increase the closer he got to the assembly line room.

He slowed to a stop as he arrived. There was a huge, gaping, hole in the wall where the door once stood. Mark peered in, seeing desks smashed, computers shattered, papers strewn all across the floor. He gently took a step in, being careful of the rubble underneath his feet.

Something landed on the large glass panel on the wall overlooking the machines below. Mark jumped, but then relaxed, seeing the familiar flash of red and blue. Hyuck was sticking to the flat glass with his fingers and feet. He twisted around and Mark watched him with wide eyes, wondering how exactly he had met such a boy as Hyuck. How was that possible in Mark’s little world?

Hyuck lifted a hand and gave a cheery wave, before darting away as Ten hurtled a piece of broken metal at him. Mark rushed to the glass to see what was happening more clearly. If he thought they had caused enough damage before, he wasn’t prepared to see the extent of it now. Ten was swiping the robotic arm all over the place, knocking it into the monitors, destroying the conveyor belt. Hyuck was shooting webs out of his wrist, using whatever he could to attack the robot while defending himself.

Mark’s eyes settled on the stash of the drug in the corner of the room. An idea formed. Quickly, he fumbled for his phone. Sometime since he had found Hyuck, his call with Renjun and Jaemin had been disconnected. He keyed in Chenle’s number and let it ring. “Come on, come on, pick up,” He whispered, hoping the other boy would pick up soon.

“Mark! Where are you?” Came the shrill response.

“Chenle, that sample I gave you, is it flammable?” Mark asked, wasting no time.

“What?”

“Is it?”

“Uh, yeah, it’s like _super_ flammable. Why are you asking?”

“Thanks, Chenle,” Mark said, hanging up.

“Mark, don’t be an idiot—” Was the last thing he heard before he slipped his phone back into his pocket. Mark yanked open the door leading to where the two were still fighting. He was running on pure adrenaline at this point, determined to see an end to all this. He shot down the short flight of steps, sticking as close to the wall as he could to avoid getting caught up in Spider-man and the robot’s fight.

Everything was breaking around him. Metal creaked, glass shattered, something was already smelling like smoke. He kept his back to the wall, and his eyes on the box. This was a dumb idea. No part of his idea made any sense. But it was all he had and Hyuck was going to run out of borrowed time if he didn’t do something right now.

So, Mark pushed the box over with all his might, every single vial shattering and spilling the clear, smelly, liquid all over the floor. It slid lazily towards the center of the room, sticking to the surface as it moved. Mark was careful about where he was stepping and reached over to grab one of the fallen and destroyed robotic cameras.

He rotated it in his hands. It was just a camera. He knew how to work cameras, high-tech robotic ones or just a simple polaroid. Every camera was built the same, and if he was right about this one…

Mark sprung open a panel on the side of the camera, revealing several colorful wires tangled with each other. He would _never_ ruin a camera like this, and it pained him to do so, but Mark had no other choice but to pull those wires out, revealing the bare metal parts of the wires. Now, he just needed an outlet and a piece of paper.

The pros of being in such a high-tech, modernized, building, was that there were outlets _everywhere._ Mark instantly found one against the wall that was being used by several plugs. It didn’t really matter, whatever they were being used to power was probably destroyed anyway. He yanked them out, letting them drop by his knees where he was bent over the outlet. Mark snatched up the closest piece of paper he could find and braced himself. This truly was one of the stupidest things he had ever done. Everything his parents taught him when he was younger about wires, outlets, and electricity was gone.

“Hyuck!” Mark called. Hyuck leapt out of the way just as Robot Ten threw another piece metal at him. “Time to go!” Mark called as a warning.

Hyuck grunted, shooting out a web and yanking on the robot’s arm, twisting him around and around as he swung in a circle, keeping all the robot’s limbs stuck in his webs. “This is the stupidest idea you have _ever_ come up with,” He got out, sticking the web to the ceiling and to the wall to make sure the robot couldn’t move away.

Mark shook his head to himself. “I know,” He muttered. He sucked in a breath, held the part of the wire as far away from the outlet with trembling fingers and lifted the paper. Here goes nothing.

Mark shoved the wire into the outlet, the sparks flying out immediately. He flinched back, trying to get one of the sparks to set the paper alight. Smoke began rising from the outlet and Mark was growing increasingly worried that the whole thing might blow. He heard the electricity zap a few times, a low buzzing sound, but _finally,_ one edge of the paper began to smoke, embers beginning to eat away at the corner.

Mark gasped. It worked. It actually _worked._ “Oh my God,” he breathed, scrambling back up to his feet. The paper was burning a lot faster now. Mark had to drop it _now._

“Hyuck!” He called out one more time as a warning. Hyuck’s head turned, seeing mark stand over a pool of the spilled drug, with a burning piece of paper in his hand. He must look like a maniac. “One!” He shouted.

Hyuck gave one last tug on the robot, making sure he couldn’t escape the layers of webbing Hyuck had wrapped around him. “Two!” He called back. He shot a web up at the ceiling, swinging forward towards Mark. Another web whizzed past Mark head as Hyuck yanked the door to the garage open behind him to escape easily.

“Three!” Mark dropped the paper into the liquid, the surface immediately catching on fire. Mark felt the heat on his skin, crinkling his nose at the awful smell it was emitting. He barely saw the fire spread to the edges of the room, surrounding the robot in the center before Hyuck swooped in, catching Mark by the waist. Then, they were soaring through the door.

He got a breath of fresh air before a thunderous _boom_ sounded, followed by a wave of heat and force, pushing the both of them out of the room. Hyuck’s web must have cut off because the next thing Mark knew was that he was rolling on the asphalt, every bone knocking painfully into the road below him. He felt his back hit something cool as he finally came to a stop.

He groaned, his ears ringing, his head spinning. Mark managed to push himself onto his elbows, blinking away the blurriness in his vision. A fire was raging in front of him, licking at the door frame that he and Hyuck had narrowly swung through less than a second ago.

The lab _exploded._ He could barely believe it. It _blew up._ They did that. There was no way anything would have survived in that explosion. Every sample, every vial, would have been destroyed completely. Mark’s heartrate hadn’t slowed down. It was over, and he could hardly believe it.

“Mark!”

He looked up. Hyuck was limping towards him, his mask pushed up off his face. He looked worried, and concerned, but all Mark was seeing were those bruises again, like that night at the ramen place. He frowned at the blood trickling down Hyuck’s chin out of the corner of his mouth as he plopped to the ground in front of Mark.

Hyuck frowned back. “What?” He asked, tilting his head. “We made it! Can’t you smile for me?”

Mark slowly reached up, ignoring the way his own knuckles were bruised and bloodied, and gently touched the wound on Hyuck’s cheek. He didn’t know what to say. His head was still reeling from everything that had just happened. How did that happen? The plan was half-assed at best and somehow, he and Hyuck were here, battered and bruised, but alive and looking into each other’s eyes.

And then Hyuck leaned in. Mark was met with warm lips on his own, smelling a lot like woody smoke and a hint of citrus. That was new. Mark wasn’t sure if he smelt the citrus before. But he wasn’t going to complain. It suited him perfectly. Mark couldn’t imagine anything else. It was just…perfect.

Hyuck pulled away too soon for his liking. Mark stared at him with his mouth slightly open, disappointed that the kiss had ended so quickly. Hyuck watched with wide eyes, but only for a second. He pouted. “I was sure that would get you to smile,” he huffed, annoyed.

Mark let out a breathy laugh, staring at the boy who was the epitome of the sun in front of him. There were a lot of things he wondered about how and why it happened. But this? Hyuck in his life? That was biggest mystery. And Mark had no hurry to dig deeper. This was enough for him.

Hyuck grinned again. “There it—”

Mark lunged this time, one hand cupping Hyuck’s jaw. He melted into the kiss, just feeling Hyuck near him, the heat radiating from his body. Hyuck’s hand was on the back of Mark’s head, pulling him closer and closer, and the warmth inside of Mark’s chest exploded. Every part of him tingled, excitement coursing through his veins. _This_ was enough. The both of them side by side, happy and well. Mark couldn’t ask for anything else.

“Mark,” Hyuck whispered in the middle of the kiss. Mark just kissed again. Hyuck pushed Mark’s shoulders gently. “Mark,” He repeated, and Mark finally, reluctantly, pulled away. He pouted this time. “We have to go now.”

In the distance, Mark heard the sirens getting closer and closer. Hyuck was right. They had to leave, or they’d have a _lot_ of explaining to do. Hyuck got to his feet and offered his hand to Mark, which he accepted, allowing Hyuck to pull him to his feet. He cleared his throat. “Jeno said that they would be a block away. We should go there.” He paused. Hyuck had glint of something in his eyes. Mark recognized it. “No, we are walking.”

Hyuck pulled his mask back down over his face. “No time.” Once again, Mark was scooped up like a child into Hyuck’s arms, all his protests being ignored over Hyuck’s laughter echoing across the garage. Mark saw Hyuck shoot out a web, landing somewhere far away, and then they were hurtling through the air again.

Like last time, Mark was screaming at the top of his lungs. His stomach lurched up and down, his yelling being cut off at the most random times. And like last time, Hyuck was laughing the whole time, shooting web after web, soaring through the air with ease.

Unlike last time, however, was the view. In between Mark squeezing his eyes shut and peeking through over Hyuck’s shoulder, he saw the city at night. Lights danced and blurred as they swung through, but all of it together was nothing short of breathtaking. Literally. Hair whipped around Mark’s face, but from here, he had a clear view of center Manhattan, the bright lights twinkling like they were stars.

He and Hyuck were flying through their own universe again, the stars dancing and twinkling only for them to see. Mark held onto Hyuck tightly, feeling Hyuck’s laughter rumble from his chest as the stars around them continued to dance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THEY!! KISS!! WOOOOO!!! this nearing the end, I'm afraid. i hope mark and hyuck took you on a journey as wild as their's :)


	12. Epilogue

Mark was running late to school. Again.

It was his own fault, truly. He woke up half an hour earlier than he had to and decided to sleep for those short thirty minutes but ended up sleeping for a full hour. He could take the car, but he wasn’t trusting New York traffic especially when he was already running late. One rule he had learned while living here was to _never_ trust New York traffic.

Not that the crowded streets were any better. Mark was shouldering his way past all the morning walkers headed to their jobs and such, muttering string after string of apologies. He had ten minutes before class started, and he really couldn’t be late. Not when Mr. Suh was his first period teacher. He needed Mr. Suh to like him enough to write his college recommendations, which wasn’t going to happen if he showed up late again.

Why hadn’t he woken up earlier? He should have just gotten out of bed the first time he woke up. All of this could have been avoided if he had. Mark was busy cursing himself and making sure he wasn’t stepping on anyone’s toes, when something smacked into his arm and _pulled_.

He yelped, stumbling over his feet as he was dragged into an abandoned alleyway. _What now?_ He wondered annoyed. He was going to be late for sure now.

“Hey, cutie.” A voice startled Mark out of panic. There was no one in the alleyway. He looked around closely, looking for the source of the voice. Someone tapped his shoulder, and he spun around.

Hyuck was hanging upside down on his web, his hair messy as it always was, swaying in the wind. He pulled out one of his most dazzling smiles as Mark finally met his eyes.

“Hyuck!” Mark exclaimed. “Why aren’t you at school?”

“I could ask you that too,” He replied easily.

Mark crossed his arms. “I’m late. I’m never going to be able to make it on time.”

Hyuck hummed. “I can get you there on time,” He said after a moment, lifting a brow.

“No. No way. I can’t do that again,” Mark protested.

Hyuck frowned, looking a little silly upside down like that. “Fine. Be late. I’ll catch you at lunch. If you ever make it there on time too.”

“Wait!” As much as Mark hated it, he really, _really,_ needed to get to class on time, and Hyuck was right. He could get there before class started. Mark blew out a frustrated sigh. “Okay, fine,” He conceded.

Hyuck’s frown turned into that cheeky grin he always pulled when he knew that he was right. “A kiss first.”

“Hyuck, we don’t have the time,” Mark pointed out.

“Good luck getting there on time then.”

God, Mark was going to step on all of Hyuck’s toes on purpose at some point. “Fine!” Mark leaned in, pressing his lips against Hyuck’s, who was still hanging upside down. Mark knew his cheeks and ears were red when they pulled away, and he did everything he could to keep his head low so that Hyuck couldn’t see.

“Now, was that so hard?” Hyuck crooned, flipping over to land softly on his feet right-side up. Mark only huffed out a breath. “You ready?” He opened his arms.

Mark had to get used to the feeling of free-falling before being caught again. He was sure Hyuck was doing it on purpose too. When they landed, Mark’s voice was hoarse from the screaming and his hair was an utter disaster. Hyuck had helped to smooth it out a little, but Mark had swatted his hands away, claiming that they were _still_ late. They weren’t actually, but the longer Mark stayed with Hyuck, the more he wanted to skip class, which was something he _definitely_ could not afford.

Hyuck pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before he left for his own class and Mark ended up walking into the room with red cheeks. He avoided Jaemin’s shit eating grin. He would bring it up during lunch, Mark was sure of it, but for now, he tried to ignore it the best he could.

After everything had happened at Wayv Genetics, Mark and the others had slipped every piece of evidence under the door at the press. Every photograph Mark had taken, all the notes Jeno, Chenle, and Jisung had written up about the drug and its antidote were sent to the press, and by the next morning, the police investigation was underway. The patients, or victims, all received their share of the antidote and were showing great results according to the doctors. And while Wayv Genetics suffered a loss, they didn’t completely shut down. Kun ended up taking position as the new CEO and he was busy rebuilding the damage done to their basement. The whole thing was written off as Spider-man stopping the production of a lethal drug, which made him the hero everyone was looking for.

Mark’s article for it was on the front pages of the school newspaper, and everywhere he looked, someone was reading through it. He felt pride at it, seeing people read his work, look at his photographs. Mr. Kim was impressed as well, and Mark left his class feeling like he was on top of the world.

Which came crashing down as soon as he saw Hyuck leaning against the lockers, his eyes scanning the article Mark wrote. He cringed. This wasn’t going to end well.

“Everyone in this city, including myself, owes it to the masked hero keeping our home and families safe,” Hyuck read aloud as Mark approached.

“Why are you doing this to me?” Mark groaned.

“Hey, it wasn’t all that bad. I really liked the part where you called my body, ‘a figure of an Olympic diver, precise and poised for action.’”

Mark snatched the paper out of his hands. “That’s enough,” He murmured, rolling up the paper.

“Hey!” A loud voice called from down the hall. Hyuck looked over while Mark hung his head. “What’s up Olympic diver and his boyfriend?” Chenle asked, high-fiving Hyuck. The others gathered around the lockers, and Mark was feeling the laughter that was bound to come from them.

“This was a mistake,” Mark moaned. Was his grade worth this teasing?

“I’m a little disappointed that you barely mentioned us,” Jisung added with a pout. “But it’s understandable. It’s our little secret.”

“Unless Jaemin spills it all,” Jeno said with a pointed look to said boy.

“Offended,” Jaemin stated, putting a hand to his heart.

“How are you the best and the worst liar,” Renjun wondered aloud.

“And that’s _my_ little secret.” Jaemin held his finger to his lips and winked, earning a groan from everyone except for two love-struck fools.

“Even Mark and Hyuck aren’t this gross.” Chenle fake hurled.

“Okay,” Jisung said, dragging out the ‘o’. “I’m starving. Can we get lunch?”

“Yeah, while we’re there can someone tell me what’s on today’s chem test, because um, I wasn’t even aware we had one today,” Jaemin admitted. No one was surprised.

“You’re never going to graduate,” Renjun said, shaking his head while Jeno sadly patted Jaemin’s shoulder. “Do my French homework, and I’ll give you a summary.”

They began heading towards the courtyard for lunch. “French homework for chem notes?” Came Jaemin’s shocked tone. “What type of capitalism is this?”

Hyuck chuckled next to Mark as they allowed the others to argue about what was worth trading for some notes ahead of them. Hyuck slipped his hand into Mark’s and squeezed, and Mark turned his head to the side and pressed a quick kiss to Hyuck’s temple.

“You’re so cute,” Hyuck said as they followed their friends.

“Whatever you say, Sunshine,” Mark replied, gently swinging their hands back and forth as they walked.

“Need a ride home?”

“Absolutely not.”

Hyuck bumped shoulders with Mark’s and though there were no stars to dance for them, Mark saw enough of the twinkle in Hyuck’s eyes. _This_ was enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was an excuse to have them kiss in that iconic position of spidey being upside down heheh. ANYWAYS. if you're here, then you've read through this monster. thank you SOOOOO much for the read, all your lovely comments, and all the kudos too. all of it keeps me motivated and very very happy ^^ this story was so fun to write and i am in love with super villain ten ;) markhyuck are cute as always, and I LOVE THE DREAMIES they're awesome :) come talk to me on twitter i'm funny i promise @nomoreeggstofry

**Author's Note:**

> hello!! i had so much fun writing this :) it was in my drafts for like a year and only now did i decide to get working on it oopsies ^^ thank you for reading it! leave comments! they always make my day! follow me on twitter sometimes i write essays about haechan i love that boy sm @moreeggstofry thanks for reading!! stay safe and stay healthy!!


End file.
